On Casaubon's Book, Sharon Astyk says that although many books are ascribed profound historical significance, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring truly brought environmentalism to the mainstream. Carson described the deadly effects of pesticide use on its unintended targets—birds, wildlife, human beings. Carson was a nature-lover at heart, but her memory will always be tied to agricultural issues. On Tomorrow's Table, Pamela Ronald writes that Carson "envisioned harnessing the knowledge of biological diversity—entomology, pathology, genetics, physiology, biochemistry, and ecology—to shape a new science of biotic controls." Genetically modified crops, for example, have fostered productivity and reduced dependence on chemicals worldwide. Ronald writes, "In the face of a rapidly growing population, the need to produce more food and fiber without further destroying the environment is one of the greatest challenges of our time." But Sharon Astyk rejects the idea of GMOs as a cornucopia, saying that if we wanted to feed the world, we could have done so for decades with much simpler tools. Meanwhile, on Respectful Insolence, Orac debunks a new study that claims Roundup-ready maize causes cancer.
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Carson Was Responsible for the Deaths of Millions
Consider the DDT ban brought about by Rachel Carson’s, hysterical, propaganda piece, “Silent Spring”. Now, every year, millions of people, mostly children die from insect born diseases that were once controlled by DDT.
Also, West Nile Virus, which kills millions of birds, mammals and dozens of Americans annually, might have been stopped had our nation possessed the political will to use DDT, in 1999, when the disease was still confined to one or two counties. We had our chance, but pseudo-science called the shots. Now, this mass killer will exact its annual toll of death forever.
Paul Muller, the inventor of DDT, won the Nobel Prize in medicine. Franklin Roosevelt said that DDT saved millions of lives during WW II. Entire cities were sprayed with it in order to prevent the spread of plague and Typhus in Europe, Asia and China. No test has ever shown DDT to harm humans in anyway. Further, the animal/bird tests never confirmed the thinning of bird egg shells - only suggested the possibility.
The World Health Organization - not known as a right wing organization -admits that more than a million children die every year as a direct result of the DDT ban.
Concern over eagles and coyotes is, I think, more than a little misplaced in light of reality.
This is what comes when we mistake nature for God, and political correctness blinds science.
See, DDT. A case Study in Scientific Fraud, or any of a dozen notable websites for illumination.