Ban/regulate the use of pesticides in agriculture to protect our bees, the Gulf, and agriculture and fishing industries.

Recent reports have made clear that the heavy use of pesticides and fungicides in the agriculture industry are drastically minimizing the bee population, as well as contributing to the largest dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico in history. Bees are instrumental in pollinating our $30 billion agriculture industry and their demise could put our food system and related economy at great risk. Furthermore, the runoff of these pesticides in our nation's waterways are pouring into the Gulf of Mexico, as well as other large bodies of water, depleting the oxygen supply, making those areas uninhabitable for fish. This is straining the fishing economies in the gulf states and the east coast. The United States needs to follow Europe's lead and ban the use of pesticides to protect our economy.