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Rachel Carson Deserves
Condemnation -- Not Praise
[Published in the Globe and Mail on Jan. 31, 1998.]
Dear Editor,
Re: "Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature" by Linda Lear -- A book review
by Elizabeth Abbott --Dec/06/1997 -- Review of Books -- The Globe and Mail
Elizabeth Abbott, in her praise of Rachel Carson and of Linda Lear's biography *Rachel
Carson: Witness for Nature* , failed to mention Carson's significant role in the
needless death of millions from malaria.
A New York Times article last year (Jan. 8, 1997) reported that roughly two million
people worldwide were now dying each year of malaria. The article mentioned that,
decades ago, the insecticide DDT "led to a sharp reduction of mosquitos and
of the disease. But the use of DDT and similar chemicals was sharply curtailed because
of their dreadful environmental effects," resulting in an "upswing"
of malaria. It was environmentalists who -- despite the many warnings of human tragedy
-- exaggerated the dangers of DDT in their typical scaremongering fashion and pressured
politicians to terminate DDT spraying.
As documented in detail in *Toxic Terror*, by Elizabeth Whelan, President of the
American Council on Science and Health, Carson's book *Silent Spring* (a "half-science,
half-fiction work" according to Ms.Whelan) was the prime mover in getting DDT
banned on false, "alarmist" pretenses. According to Whelan, "Carson
underplayed the importance of insecticides in disease prevention."
Rather than praise, Rachel Carson deserves our moral condemnation. And your readers
deserve a more objective presentation of influential people.
Sincerely,
Glenn Woiceshyn
© 1998 Glenn Woiceshyn.
All rights reserved. This article can be found on-line at at http://www.capitalism.org/glennw. |
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