Comments on: Rachel Carson's Alarmist Legacy

National Review Online: "Silent Spring" Stands As A Blueprint For Environmentalists' Strategy

[codexkills]

Read studies to make sure they're not junk science.- Were the DDT studies manipulated? I read that the birds were fed a low calcium diet with DDT. (http://www.junkscience.com/ddtfaq.html) Why are we so sure that DDT was dangerous? Oh, everyone just knows this without reading studies because everyone is so smart now. Why are we so sure that modern day pesticides and genetically engineered foods are safe? The FDA won't even allow people to show evidence that engineered foods cause kidney and liver damage in rats as well as cancer. How do we know that fossil fuels are truly the only form of energy that supports our lifestyle? Read about Nicola Tesla and his goal of free energy to everyone by tapping into the earth's ionosphere.

[jimfinster]

If not for Carson and others like her, the EPA would not have been formed. No Clean Water Act, no environmental regulations of any kind. Industry would have continued to poison the environment unchecked, and her prophesies would have been fulfilled.

Just look at China today as a country without environmental regulations. Horribly dirty air, most water contaminated beyond use, and on and on. This author should be ashamed and embarrased by this article.

[schi1911]

Is Murray still in high school? An 8th grader could poke holes in this argument. The quote that "the removal of a problem won't cause other problems ..." , but the fact that releasing poison on the environment in the first place is Ok??? This is similar to the anti-regulation view that the "marketplace will take care of the bad guys" yes, after they have maimed, killed, and financially ruined people.

[marcodele]

The article states: "EPA's own scientists" determined DDT was not a threat.

Isn't that all dependent on the politics of the moment? I'm sure Junior's EPA scientists were all on Poppy and Barbara's Christmas card mailing list. This administration only hires people who say what he wants to hear.

So whichever administration is in power at the time, the EPA scientists are pretty much in that administration's pockets.

I'd believe Rachel Carson before I would any political appointee.

[codexkills]

The key is, you have to READ the scientific studies to make sure they're not junk studies. The author of this article claims that ALL pesticides are OK, all genetically engineered foods are OK, and pretends that the only form of energy we have are fossil fuels. Maybe the studies show that (1) DDT IS safe (read the studies %u2013 were they really all that legitimate? The birds were fed a diet with low calcium and DDT, and then the bird shells broke %u2013 were the studies performed correctly? Why are we so sure that DDT%u2019s unsafe? Because we just know? (2) studies may show other pesticides are unsafe %u2013 more dangerous than DDT and (3) there really are alternative forms of energy or forms of transportation, and Big Oil has brainwashed us into thinking that oil's the only form of energy that supports our lifestyle. Just watch Nicola Tesla documentaries. More reading, more critical thinking, and really analyzing whether studies are done well or poorly is the only way to improve science.

[codexkills]

The key is, you have to READ the scientific studies to make sure they're not junk studies. The author of this article claims that ALL pesticides are OK, all genetically engineered foods are OK, and pretends that the only form of energy we have are fossil fuels. Maybe the studies show that (1) DDT IS safe (read the studies %u2013 were they really all that legitimate? The birds were fed a diet with low calcium and DDT, and then the bird shells broke %u2013 were the studies performed correctly? Why are we so sure that DDT%u2019s unsafe? Because we just know? (2) studies may show other pesticides are unsafe %u2013 more dangerous than DDT and (3) there really are alternative forms of energy or forms of transportation, and Big Oil has brainwashed us into thinking that oil's the only form of energy that supports our lifestyle. Just watch Nicola Tesla documentaries. More reading, more critical thinking, and really analyzing whether studies are done well or poorly is the only way to improve science.

[codexkills]

The key is, you have to READ the scientific studies to make sure they're not junk studies. The author of this article claims that ALL pesticides are OK, all genetically engineered foods are OK, and pretends that the only form of energy we have are fossil fuels. Maybe the studies show that (1) DDT IS safe (2) other pesticides are unsafe and (3) there really are alternative forms of energy or forms of transportation, and Big Oil has brainwashed us into thinking that oil's the only form of energy that supports our lifestyle. Just watch Nicola Tesla documentaries.

[tbweb]

I remember Rachel Carson, she was the Al Gore of her time! Rachel Carson was wayyyyy ahead of her time and a nightmare for Business and Government to deal with because Rachel graduated at the top of her class magna *** laude with honors and was an expert in her field. It was sad, they didn't even understand what she was talking about then, could not even hold a conversation with her. Rachel was the bomb and still is! I always admired her! Silent Spring, check out that title!!

[nyteryder2]

Wow! Talk about irresponsible journalism! This article takes the prize for alarmism. It fails to fully mention the disasterous effects on wildlife, including large birds and fish. It also fails to mention that DDT is banned in most developed countries. There must be a reason for that!

Murray did not mention that DDT is still used effectively, with strict regulations, in countries where mosquito-borne malaria and typhus are serious health problems. In fact, the WHO said that DDT will be one of the three main tools used in places with constant and high malaria transmission.

As for the EPA's "own scientists?" After a six-month review process, The EPA Administrator rejected an outright ban, citing studies from the EPA's internal staff stating that DDT was not an imminent danger to human health and wildlife. However, the findings of these staff members were criticized, as they were performed mostly by economic entomologists inherited from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, whom many environmentalists felt were biased towards agribusiness and tended to minimize concerns about human health and wildlife. The decision not to ban thus created public controversy.

After seven months of hearings, with evidence pro and con, DDT was classified as an EPA Toxicity Class II substance and virtually banned in the U.S.

So, Murray, your alarmist lies have not gone un-noticed. Next time tell the whole story.

Better to be safe than sorry.

[zorlacskates]

alarmism? really? anybody watch the republican debates? the entire republican platform is based on alarmism and just generally trying to scare the *** out of the electorate. who cares about the environment when, at any moment, our children, our pets, and our great, fearful way of life could be destroyed by terrorists swimming across the ocean with nuclear weapons strapped to their backs!