Good news: Today’s Wall Street Journal highlights the recent study on DDT benefits in repelling mosquitoes and battling resistance issues. Photo by One.org’s photostream of Flickr. Caption: “USAID funded internal residual spraying with DDT to prevent malaria.” … [Read more...]

Anti-DDT activists might read this with glee: Misinformation about DDT risks is undermining its use in Kampala, Uganda. A Ugandan news website reports that anti-DDT hype has led some people to block the spraying of their homes with DDT. This is clearly a tragedy as lives hang in the balance. Hopefully, as residents who allowed DDT spraying in their homes reap DDT’s protective benefits, others will follow their lead. … [Read more...]

The July issue of National Geographic includes an excellent cover story on malaria. It notes: "Malaria is a confounding disease—often, it seems, contradictory to logic. ... Rachel Carson, the environmental icon, is a villain; her three-letter devil, DDT, is a savior ... In 1962 Rachel Carson published Silent Spring, documenting this abuse and painting so damning a picture that the chemical was eventually outlawed by most of the world for agricultural use. Exceptions were made for malaria … [Read more...]

In a recent State of the Nation speech, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni laments impediments to life-saving uses of DDT caused by DDT critics: "Having gone through a rigorous systematic approach on the use of DDT for Indoor Residual Spraying as elaborated above, it is not only disturbing but quite insulting to hear some individuals and at times groups claiming to be the champions of protection of the environment going around misleading the public that no scientific studies and preparations … [Read more...]

Today John Tierney takes on the legacy of Rachel Carson in the New York Times Science section. Tierney notes: "For Rachel Carson admirers, it has not been a silent spring. They’ve been celebrating the centennial of her birthday with paeans to her saintliness. A new generation is reading her book in school—and mostly learning the wrong lesson from it. If students are going to read 'Silent Spring' in science classes, I wish it were paired with another work from that same year, 1962, titled … [Read more...]

John Tierney's piece on Rachel Carson in yesterday's New York Times is under attack in the comments section of Tierney's blog. The critiques go to show that Carson's supporters are in a state of denial about her legacy. All they can offer is speculation about public health risks and rationalizations about DDT bans. One suggests that DDT is too dangerous to use for malaria control because it is classified as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer … [Read more...]

Environmental activists from Environmental Defense, the Pesticide Action Network of North America (PANNA), and the Silent Spring Institute refuse to debate me (and probably anyone with my view) about Silent Spring’s malaria legacy. I can't blame them. After all, who would want to defend their indefensible position? They refused an invitation for a radio debate/discussion this past weekend. We all were invited for an hour-long interview on Food Chain Radio with host Michael Olsen. The host simply … [Read more...]

National Review Online—Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, the 1962 book that launched the modern environmental movement, was born a century ago this week, and it is no wonder that green activists are celebrating her legacy. She practically invented the environmental alarmist strategy that has been so successful in pushing a radical environmental agenda. More... … [Read more...]

Post by John Berlau—Competitive Enterprise Institute OpenMarket.org—Coburn isn’t all alone in his crusade to stop Congress from honoring Rachel Carson. He has some good friends in the U.S. House of Representatives. There, in April, 53 representatives voted against naming the post office after Carson. Another 3 voted “present,” which also often signals symbolic opposition to a bill. The good news is that the “nays” included some of the very top members of the House Republican leadership ... It's … [Read more...]

d advancing political agendas. More...Paul Driessen—Congress of Racial Equality The New York Post—ACTIVISTS say companies should be honest and accountable, and put people ahead of profits. But unless these common-sense guidelines also apply to nonprofit advocacy groups, corporate social responsibility will remain just another tactic for raising money an … [Read more...]

The Post Chronicle—Fiona Kobusingye of the Congress of Racial Equality Uganda knows first hand the ravages of Malaria and of the need for DDT. In a recent commentary she explains: "I just got out of the hospital, after another nasty case of malaria. I've had it dozens of times. I lost my son, two sisters and three nephews to it. Fifty out of 500 children in our local school for orphans died from malaria in 2005 ... Praise Rachel Carson, if you wish—but support DDT spraying, to reduce disease and … [Read more...]

The Washington Examiner—Sunday was the 100th birthday of environmental icon Rachel Carson, and lots of people are proposing all sorts of memorials to honor her legacy. Yet, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., stands largely alone in efforts to stop these measures — a position for which he deserves much credit. More ... … [Read more...]

Jeremy Lott and Erin Wildermuth—Competitive Enterprise Institute The Baltimore Sun—Today is the centenary of Rachel Carson's birth, which has been noted by many environmentalists who cherish her legacy. However, what has been little noted amid the celebrations and commemorations is the dark aspect of that legacy: that Ms. Carson's views led to the banning of pesticides at a cost of many thousands of lives worldwide. More ... … [Read more...]

Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) stands largely alone in efforts to stop congressional efforts to honor the environmental movement’s icon the late Rachel Carson, whose 100 birthday comes this Sunday. Coburn rightly recognizes that the conventional wisdom about Carson’s legacy is wrong! Rather than launching a beneficial environmental cause, Carson launched a misinformation campaign that her followers continue without regard for the consequences. … [Read more...]

Millions dead and that’s still not enough for environmental activists to change their color. Last September, Dr Arata Kochi, Director of the World Health Organization’s Global Malaria Program, called on the environmental community to "help save African babies as you are helping to save the environment." Kochi’s plea was part of an announcement that the WHO would seek increased use of the pesticide DDT to fight malaria. Rather than answer his call, green groups continue their crusade against DDT. … [Read more...]

Post by Philip Coticelli—Africa Fighting Malaria The New York Sun—American Idol's "Idol Gives Back" special on April 24 and 25 helped raise over $60 million to fight poverty in America and Africa. As season five comes to a close tomorrow, fans should be asking where their money went and what the impact on poverty will be. Over six million dollars of the total was given to Nothing But Nets, an antimalaria bed net distribution initiative ... These groups have good intentions, but their collective … [Read more...]

This week the World Health Organization continues its annual meeting to address public health priorities for the world body. Ironically, just several days before Rachel Carson's birthday, they will address malaria control and possibly DDT use. At issue is whether the world's public health agency will underscore the position it took in September 2006, supporting increased use of DDT to save millions from the ravages of malaria. Radical environmentalists have been pressing for a reversal, but … [Read more...]

A story on today's front page of the Washington Post highlights the life of Rachel Carson. While largely praising Carson, the author does note that Carson's contribution to the banning of DDT remains "controversial." While Carson surely would not have wanted this legacy, "controversial" doesn’t begin to describe it. It’s an ongoing colossal tragedy—one that Carson's followers could help reverse if only they would aggressively advocate DDT use for malaria control. After all, while Carson was … [Read more...]

Paul Driessen and Cyril Boynes, Jr—Congress of Racial Equality WHO Public Health and Environment director Dr. Maria Neira …and her co-conspirators are promoting something … irresponsible and deadly. They want to reverse the September 2006 decision to restore DDT to the Organization's malaria-fighting arsenal. More... … [Read more...]

In his blog post today, Ronald Bailey of Reason Online takes issue with a Senate resolution on Rachel Carson offered by Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.). According to the resolution, Carson should be honored for her "legacy of scientific rigor coupled with poetic sensibility." Bailey disagrees. More ... … [Read more...]

DDT-deniers—those who would rather let people die that allow DDT use to fight malaria-carrying mosquitoes—have been critiquing our blog posts on the topic. Last week they attacked us for highlighting recent scientific research that underscores the value of DDT in repelling mosquitoes. Apparently, they won’t even be swayed by scientific data, nor do they want anyone else to be convicted by the truth. But don’t be swayed by their hype. Instead, read the op-ed in today’s New York Times by Dr. … [Read more...]

Malaria Related Websites: Africa Fighting Malaria Malaria Foundation International The President's Malaria Initiative Roll Back Malaria Partnership World Health Organization Scientific Publications: "Balancing Risks on the Backs of the Poor" Amir Attaran, Donald R. Roberts, Chris F. Curtis, and Wenceslaus L. Kilama Nature Medicine, July 2000 "Risks and Benefits of DDT" Gilbert Ross, M.D. Letters, The Lancet, November 19, 2005 “DDT, Global Strategies, and a Malaria … [Read more...]

Silent Spring’s impact on DDT is only one of the many legacies of the book. Environmental activists took many of Carson’s ideas and developed them into a host of environmental scare campaigns. Many of these have been problematic like the DDT case, on a significant, although smaller scale. The ongoing battle to control mosquito-borne illnesses, in particular, continues to be undermined by the green's anti-pesticide campaigns.  The following links address just a few of these … [Read more...]

Silent Spring is often subject to much praise but little thorough analysis. The section of this website of Carson's Malaria legacy addresses Carson's statements on DDT and public health. The following offers additional critiques of the findings and claims presented in in Silent Spring. General Critiques: “Chemicals and Pests, I. L. Baldwin, Science, September 28, 1962. "Silent Spring at 40” Reason Online Ron Bailey "Rachel Was Wrong" Jonathan Tolman Monthly Planet, March 1, … [Read more...]

As the world commemorates Rachel Carson’s birthday and work, let us commemorate the birthdays of the 50 boys and girls whose photos are featured on this website—and millions of others like them. They will never see another birthday. Many of these lives might have been saved had policymakers not abandoned DDT for malaria control in response to Carson's Silent Spring. Unfortunately, they are only a small sample of the millions of children who suffer and die every year in Africa and other parts … [Read more...]

Born in 1907, Rachel Carson grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania and eventually went on to study marine biology, earning her Masters’ degree in the subject from Johns Hopkins University. Carson taught at the University of Maryland for a few years, but eventually went to work at the Department of Interior, during which she wrote books and articles related to the environment. The first three books focused on the sea and did not provoke much attention, but her third book—Silent Spring—became a best … [Read more...]