Since the environmental movement has done more harm to the poor of the world than any other such supposedly well-intentioned group, their dogma gets a very visceral reaction from me. When you get down to it, you've got a bunch of people who would rather millions of poor brown people die from malaria than even consider the possibility of using DDT.
Environmentalists would never have gotten anywhere on the ban without the help of William Ruckelshaus and his boss, Richard Nixon.
"But as an assistant attorney general, William Ruckelshaus stated on August 31, 1970 in a U.S. Court of Appeals that "DDT has an amazing an exemplary record of safe use, does not cause a toxic response in man or other animals, and is not harmful. Carcinogenic claims regarding DDT are unproven speculation." But in a May 2, 1971 address to the Audubon Society, Ruckelshaus stated, "As a member of the Society, myself, I was highly suspicious of this compound, to put it mildly. But I was compelled by the facts to temper my emotions ... because the best scientific evidence available did not warrant such a precipitate action. However, we in the EPA have streamlined our administrative procedures so we can now suspend registration of DDT and the other persistent pesticides at any time during the period of review." Ruckelshaus later explained his ambivalence by stating that as assistant attorney general he was an advocate for the government, but as head of the EPA he was "a maker of policy."
http://www.junkscience.com/ddtfaq.htm
-- Doug
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