Posted on 05/11/2006 3:32:58 AM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia
Her ideology has led to more deaths than Stalin's purges, and brought misery to hundreds of millions more. But now, over 40 years after her death, her grip on the fate of countless developing nations may finally be at an end.
As the founder of the modern ecological movement, the American naturalist Rachel Carson is not an obvious candidate for the pantheon of evil. Her best-selling book Silent Spring, published in 1963, is widely credited with putting the interconnectedness of nature on the political agenda, and led to international bans on the use of the pesticide DDT, which she claimed was causing ecological disaster. Yet while her actions may have been motivated by the best of intentions, the consequences in human terms have been catastrophic. The ban on DDT robbed developing nations of a cheap, safe and effective means of combating malaria, which kills two million people each year.
That tots up to at least 50 million deaths since the bans took effect in the early 1970s. And for what? Even at the time, Carson's claims that DDT was responsible for everything from the thinning of eggshells to cancer in humans looked shaky. By the mid-1980s they had been utterly discredited. Yet by then Carson's claims had achieved the status of holy writ among environmentalists - and among right-on officials in government ministries. Third World nations were threatened with trade sanctions if they even suggested using DDT in fields or homes.
(Excerpt) Read more at thefirstpost.co.uk ...
Her wacky theory has caused untold deaths, not just from malaria, but yellow fever, equine fever and a host of other diseases. And, yet, the ban on DDT continues, to the detriment of the human race.
She deserves the "honor" of being called deadlier than Stalin - she was!! She is the embodiment of the irreversible damage and incredible danger that envirowackos worldwide are responsible for.
I wonder how many will die because the environmentalists won't let us turn over a rock in this country to get at domestic oil? We can continue to buy JIHAD JUICE at our peril.
We are INSANE not to be drilling in ANWR, no matter how much or how little oil is there. Pristine my butt....how about....GOD-FORSAKEN!
This is exciting news. They are going to allow the use of DDT in Africa. We can just sit back and wait for the spin on this one. The Drive By Media won't be able to stand it if anything good happens because of using DDT!
bump
Good science is not important. Science that pushes an agenda is.
Human life is not important. Animal life is.
Economic difficulties in a human society are not a bad thing. They're a good thing.
It's the Marxist "immiseration" philosophy.
I'm convinced Rachel Carson's war on DDT was a stealth population control measure, to reduce the number of poor brown people in the world. In that respect, she fits right in with Margaret Sanger, founder of the Planned Barrenhood system of death franchises; as well of course with Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Mao, etc.
Scams, Scalawags, and an all-too-gullible Public...famous frauds sold to America
Thank God the day of the envirowhack appears to almost be over. Rachel Carson and William Ruckelshaus have killed two or three times the number of people of whoever was in second place. Carson is probably down there getting it on with Hitler or Stalin right now in some sort of a boudoir kept at 1700 F.
Easy there, Laz! Cutting off a limb will not topple the tree.
Well, not utterly discredited. Perhaps the scope and scale of the alleged harm was discredited . . . maybe. After all, it is a chemical.
HIGHLIGHTS: Exposure to DDT, DDE, and DDD occurs mostly from eating foods containing small amounts of these compounds, particularly meat, fish and poultry. High levels of DDT can affect the nervous system causing excitability, tremors and seizures. In women, DDE can cause a reduction in the duration of lactation and an increased chance of having a premature baby. . . .
[. . .]
In animals, short-term exposure to large amounts of DDT in food affected the nervous system, while long-term exposure to smaller amounts affected the liver. Also in animals, short-term oral exposure to small amounts of DDT or its breakdown products may also have harmful effects on reproduction.
Browsing through the ToxFAQ suggests to me the decision to use DDT is strictly cost/benefit stuff. More people will live because of it than will become sick or die because of it. Guess we'll know in ten or twenty years.
What would Thomas Malthus say? :-)
Is that supposed to be satire?
She's dead. She died in 1965.
I'm threatening to kill a dead woman.
Thanks for posting this!!
Ahhh.
And me without my coffee missed the most important fact. Sorry.
"Pristine my butt....how about....GOD-FORSAKEN!"
You bet! Take a look at last months National Geographic. The author waxes poetic about all the wildlife there, but it IS a wasteland.
My father in law worked for years on the Alaskan pipline and claims that the wildlife returned as soon as they would quit working on a section.
Another observation: the domestic white tailed deer can be found in large numbers in suburban areas. They adapt just fine to mans "intrusion".
Thank's for posting this.
I remember my mom getting all caught up in the Rachel Carson stuff back then.
I never dreamt of how many tens of millions would die because of Carson.
I teach junior high history. School ends next month and so we have made it up to the 60s. Hippies, LBJ and Rachel Carson. I explained to the kids (since the text didn't) that Rachel and her book were responsible for more deaths than Stalin and Hitler combined. Simple math really. At least 1,000,000 deaths per year from malaria alone over the last 40 years.
When the ban DDT movement was starting a chemistry professor offered to eat a pound of DDT to show how harmless to humans it was. He did it too. And of course he died—of old age some 35 years later.
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