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 wrong about DDT’s public health impacts, she did admit that pesticides are sometimes necessary to address public health emergencies.
