A recent editorial about American bald eagles and their resurgence in population (“Big Birds Make Big Comeback”, July 3, 2007, Post-Bulletin) recounts how environmentalists led by author Rachel Carson, of Silent Spring fame, impacted public policy through advocating successfully for a ban on the use of DDT in order to protect birds and other forms of wild-life. It is not merely for exposing the alleged toxic dangers to animals that Ms. Carson must be remembered. She must also assume partial historical responsibility for the millions of lives lost in Africa and other Third World countries where DDT has been banned or where, today, DDT is being reluctantly deployed due to fear of economic rejection of African agricultural imports in the European Union. How long will the next generation of Africans be silent and passively sleep and live under insecticide-treated nets? When will Africa rise to the occasion and independently deploy adequate DDT of their own making to stop this wanton loss of life due to green political correctness?
Ralph W. Conner ([email protected]) is local legislation manager for The Heartland Institute.
