USNAS Estimates DDT Saved 500 Milion Lives Before it was Banned

By Art Robinson

Readers of Access to Energy have repeatedly, over the past decade, been reminded of a terrible and tragic circumstance: Somewhere on the Earth, on average every 12 seconds, a child dies of DDT-preventable malaria.

The United States National Academy of Sciences estimated that DDT saved 500 million lives before it was banned. The discoverer of DDT was awarded the Nobel Prize.

Then came Silent Spring — a book filled with deliberate falsehoods and blatantly marketed unreasoning and unjustified fear. The burgeoning enviro movement chose these lies for one of their first big campaigns. This campaign coincided with the rise of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA was in search of a big win with which to promote itself. The EPA studied the subject and its own scientific review board reported that – DDT is harmless to the environment and is a very beneficial substance that should not be banned.

Politics prevailed, however, over reason. DDT was banned, and the U.S. government spread that ban throughout the world by tying it to all sorts of international programs.........To Read More....