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Rachel Carson Centennial: Honor Her Work
Republican Senator Blocks Honorary Resolution: May 27 was the 100th anniversary of the birth of Rachel Carson, the marine biologist, writer for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and author who wrote ‘Silent Spring,’ a book that documented the dangerous – and often deadly – effects of large-scale spraying of insecticides in the United States and the world. Published in 1962, the book eventually led to the restriction and banning (in the U.S.) of the pesticide DDT in 1972 and it was one of the factors that led to the rise of the environmental movement in the 1960s and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970. The Boston Globe had a good editorial today about the importance of her work (“Remembering Rachel Carson”).
After her book came out, Carson endured attacks from the chemical industry. Because of her book, President Kennedy set up a special panel to study pesticides. Its report vindicated Carson’s thesis. She died of cancer in 1964; now she and her book are again under attack.
Last week, Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) submitted a resolution to honor Carson on her centennial. The resolution praised her book, her "legacy of scientific rigor coupled with poetic sensibility" and called her the inspiration for modern environmentalism. The seemingly innocuous resolution was blocked by Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who used Senate rules to prevent the “unanimous consent” measure from quick passage. The Washington Post reported that Coburn said Carson’s “junk science” improperly stigmatized DDT and prevented it from being used on malaria-carrying mosquitoes. He blames the malaria deaths of many people in the developing world on this stigmatization of DDT. In a May 23 story in the Post, a statement from his Web site was quoted as describing Carson’s book as “now debunked.”
Then, yesterday in a letter to the Post, Roger Bate – a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) – chimed in, saying Carson was “undoubtedly wrong on DDT” and maligning her – and the entire environmental movement – for being “long on emotion, occasional kernels of truth, but with wild and usually unscientific manipulation of data.” He ends by saying Carson much share some of the blame, and praise, for the impact the environmental movement has had.
I would point out that the AEI is a conservative think tank that lists as part of its mission: “to defend the principles and improve the institutions of … democratic capitalism and private enterprise” (read as “big business”). Their site lists “Environment” under the topic of “Economics.” Representatives of two chemical companies – Dow Chemical and MeadWestvaco – sit on the AEI board of trustees. Dow was a big seller of DDT before the 1972 ban.
These attacks resemble the character assassination the chemical industry tried in 1962. “She was described as an ignorant and hysterical woman who wanted to turn the earth over to insects,” wrote her editor, Paul Brooks, in an introduction to the 1987 edition of the book.
So, to review: A Republican senator and a conservative scholar (supported in part by the chemical industry) oppose a symbolic resolution to honor Rachel Carson by attacking her work and her character – in general terms, mind you, without offering specific details or bothersome things like facts.
Well, I’d like to list a few facts:
- The DDT ban led to the rebound of the bald eagle population in the United States. The bald eagle was listed as an endangered species in 1967. In ‘Silent Spring,’ Carson related the data on eagles and described the “available circumstantial evidence” that linked DDT spraying to shrinking eagle numbers. She was right. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Web site now notes how DDT was harmful to eagles – “DDT ingested with the diet of fish resulted in egg shell thinning such that the eggs broke when incubated by the parent, while others failed to hatch.” – and lists the DDT ban as one of the major reasons our national symbol has recovered. In 1999, the USF&WS recommended removing the bald eagle from the endangered species list; a final determination will be made June 27, 2007.
- One of Carson’s main arguments in ‘Silent Spring’ was against the blanket spraying of chemicals – pesticides or herbicides – from airplanes or other means, because of the unintended consequences the chemicals have on plants, insects, other animals and people. In the 1940s and ‘50s, spraying pesticides from airplanes was a method often used by federal, state andlocal governments to try to control pests over millions of acres – but they did this with very little pesticide testing beforehand to gauge all of the effects. Carson decried this “growing trend to mass application of insecticides” and detailed how even suburban Long Island was sprayed from the air in 1957 with a DDT-in-fuel-oil mixture to eradicate gypsy moths. The spray from the airplanes hit everything, of course – children, adults, horses, water, flowers – and killed birds, fish, crabs and many useful insects. Spraying diminished, but continued through 1961 – at which time the gypsy moth reappeared in numbers. Her book helped put an end to this type of indiscriminate spraying.
- Carson wrote early in her book that “It is not my contention that chemical insecticides must never be used.” Instead, she wanted us to be aware of their potential for harm.
- In ‘Silent Spring,’ she also wrote that: “No responsible person contends that insect-borne disease should be ignored.” She then went on to document the problem of mosquitoes becoming resistant to pesticides, including DDT. If the bugs were adapting, maybe we should try other methods, she counseled.
- Her book raised awareness of the dangers of pesticides and encouraged Americans to exercise their “right to know” what the effects of pesticides and herbicides are.
- Her book includes a 53-page list of principal sources.
- DDT was listed as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” in the ‘Report on Carcinogens, Eleventh Edition,’ published in January 2005 by the National Toxicology Program of the National Institutes of Health.
- The World Health Organization lists DDT as one of 12 insecticides approved for fighting malaria. WHO recommends careful evaluation of effectiveness before deciding to use DDT. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say indoor spraying is one element in the fight against malaria; other elements include insecticide-treated netting, source reduction and biological controls.
- The WHO also notes that “Although there is no direct link between DDT and any negative human health effect, there is growing evidence that it may disrupt reproductive and endocrine function.”
- 125 mosquito species are now resistant to one or more pesticides
I think it is wrong for Mr. Bate and Mr. Coburn to take cheap shots at Rachel Carson. She was a pioneer whose work raised environmental awareness in our country, led to the formation of the EPA and the recovery of the bald eagle. Her work has benefited all Americans -- and everyone in the world -- by highlighting dangerous effects of pesticides and encouraging us to consider those effects before using them.
It seems that fighting malaria is a complicated thing and that DDT is not a magic bullet. The CDC notes that mosquitoes developed resistance to DDT during the Global Malaria Eradication Campaign of 1955-1969. That problem and the higher cost of other insecticides led to the campaign's failure in some areas.
It's a shame that a few people are trying to score political points by leveling unsubstantiated claims against a well-regarded author who died 43 years ago. Carson was a meek, quiet person, a poetic nature writer who had the courage to stand up to the chemical industry and the Department of Agriculture and blow the whistle on indiscriminate, ineffective and deadly pesticide spraying. As malaria-fighting countries decided whether to use DDT or other insecticides, they can thank Rachel Carson for initially bringing to light some of the dangerous effects these chemicals have.
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More links:
- "The Poetry of Rachel Carson," by Lynn Scarlett
- "An Environmental Icon's Unseen Fortitude," by David Fahrenthold, Washington Post
- "Republican Environmental Critic Blocks Honors for Rachel Carson, Author of Silent Spring," Raw Story
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5/28/07 8:05 AM
Here's some Poetry and Poets I feel need to be recognized...http://www.poetr
Previous Winners
Summer Breezes
by: Susan Lazarou
Poems, like Summer breezes, ring in my ears.
As I write and dream of its published Ideals.
Like a sea breezes on the sandy shore, it cheers!
As Cyprus winds Join, clapping its hands on the sea,
A group of children play on the shore with a Bee
Circling, Sharing space, a planet rotates with ease.
As I sit contented on a small quilt with ease.
Not giving a care, about time or space,
No worry or care for the Human rat race.
sitting idle, feeling free, and smelling the air,
For me and my shadow, seem not to care;
yet lifting songs and praises for His Grace.
Me and my shadow, embrace;
free at last.
Copyright ©2007 Susan Lazarou
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