Business Pulse

Guest Column: Free-Market Environmentalism
Todd Myers | Environmental Director,
Washington Policy Center
The Washington Policy Center is an independent, non-partisan think tank promoting sound public
policy based on free-market solutions. Todd Myers is one of the nation’s leading experts on freemarket
environmental policy and is the author of the 2011 landmark book Eco-Fads: How the Rise of
Trendy Environmentalism is Harming the Environment. His in-depth research on the failure of the
state’s 2005 “green” building mandate receives national attention. He recently became a contributor
to The Wall Street Journal.
Why I don’t count on politicians
to save my honeybees
As spring arrives, we
soon will begin seeing
honeybees as they collect
pollen and nectar, and
pollinate flowers and fruit
in the area. The bees in my
own hives near Issaquah
are getting ready and, with
luck, they will survive
the winter and I can look
forward to a strong year of
pollination and honey.
Honeybees are an especially
welcome sight to beekeepers
because of recent concerns
about Colony Collapse Disorder
(CCD). Over the last decade, the
percentage of hives that fail to
survive the winter has increased
from about 15 percent to over
30 percent, according to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. A great
deal of debate goes on among
beekeepers about the cause of this
worrisome decline.
Some talk apocalyptically about
a world without bees. Many environmentalists
have quickly pointed
to causes ranging from pesticides,
to genetically modified crops
(GMOs), to cell phone towers.
Research shows, however, that
none of these suspected causes is
the likely source of increased winter
die-off of honeybees.
For example, while bees in the
United States have struggled, honeybees
in the Canadian prairies
where a large amount of GMO
crops grow, have fared better. In
Europe, on the other hand, where
GMO crops are banned, honeybees
have seen declines.
Bill McKibben, a wellknown
environmental
activist, even blamed
climate change for the
decline. Honeybees are not
native to North America
and they have thrived
from California to North
Dakota. Blaming a onedegree
global temperature
increase for the decline
of honeybees that have
already adapted across a
wide temperature range
is the sort of unscientific
nonsense that makes it
difficult to address the
real issues.
Some have blamed pesticides
called neonicitinoids that are seedbased.
The evidence of a link to
honeybee death is sparse, however.
Recent studies found if honeybees
become exposed to the pesticide,
they can be harmed. Studies
also show, however, that honeybees
are unlikely to be exposed to
neonicitinoids because the pesticides
are not expressed in pollen
or nectar. Neonics actually are less
toxic than some pesticides they
replace. Banning neonics, as some
activists have proposed, might
increase the use of other pesticides
that are more harmful to bees.
Bill McKibben, a well-known
environmental activist, even
blamed climate change for the
decline. Honeybees are not native
to North America and they have
thrived from California to North
Dakota. Blaming a one-degree
global temperature increase for
the decline of honeybees that have
already adapted across a wide
temperature range is the sort of
unscientific nonsense that makes it
difficult to address the real issues.
Beekeepers worry more about
other threats, like the varroa mite,
which has the appropriate scientific
name of varroa destructor.
Varroa mites attach themselves to
bees, weakening them and transmitting
illness. Reducing the threat
from varroa is a common topic
among beekeepers.
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