Rick Lowe
As today is Earth Day it seems appropriate to reflect on the work of Rachel Carson that was a driving force in getting of the environmentalism era, that led to the virtual banning of DDT and to restrictions on other chemical pesticides.
While I consider myself an environmentalist that believes in preserving the earth, I do not think isolated incidences should be used to alarm populations. This causes legislation and regulations that are often more detrimental than helpful.
Laura Huggins of PERC, in her recent review of Silent Spring at 50: Reflections on an Environmental Classic by Roger Meiners and Andrew Morriss, reminds us:
Like her successors who consistently forecast doom for the planet and its inhabitants, Silent Spring is alarmist and suffers from technophobia. It resolutely refused to recognize the billions of people, us among them, whose lives have been so greatly improved by the blessings of modern technology.
Read Mrs. Huggins review, 'Silent Spring' turns 50, and birds are still singing, in The Washington Times here…
Get your copy of Silent Sping at 50, reflections on an Environmental Classic, here…
In Earth Day, the free market way, Henry I. Miller wrote in Defining Ideas, A Hoover Institution Journal that:
In the long run, the virtues of genetic engineering will convert many of the skeptics, especially when full commercialization of genetically engineered rice begins in China, because that will represent the largest single application of the technology in history. The government there has already granted preliminary approvals for commercial cultivation of biotech rice and corn varieties (as well as full approval for several other plants, including green peppers, tomato, papaya, and poplar).
However, needed regulatory reform will be a struggle. Science and experience be damned, regulators are reluctant to relinquish their bloated bureaucracies, and via fear-mongering and misrepresentation, activists will continue to provide political cover for them. The stultifying, unscientific regulatory strictures of the United Nations will be particularly hard to reverse.
Earth Day offers an opportunity for reflection about our planet. Because its form of environmentalism rejects science and technology, the occasion ensures a continuation of abject misery for billions of the poorest on the planet.
Environmentalism is one thing, but attempting to downplay the improvements in standards of living and life expectancy because of chemicals such as DDT and much more is irresponsible in my not so humble opinion.
There is so much to celebrate. Look how far we have come in preserving the environment and advancing conditions for mankind as well as nature. We should be so much more positive on Earth Day every April 22.
