Bring back DDT big time — number three in our series
We’ve written a couple of times on the miracle of DDT. Today’s installment from John Stossel:
Two to three million people die of malaria every year, Uganda’s health minister has said, because the U.S. government is afraid of a chemical called DDT. The United States does spend your tax dollars trying to fight malaria in Africa, but it won’t fund DDT. The money goes for things like mosquito netting over beds (even though not everyone in Africa even has a bed). The office that dispenses those funds, the Agency for International Development, acknowledges DDT is safe, but it will not spend a penny on it.
Why? Fifty years ago, Americans sprayed tons of DDT everywhere. Farmers used it to repel bugs, and health officials to fight mosquitoes that carry malaria. Nobody worried much about chemicals then. People really did just sit there and eat in clouds of DDT. When the trucks came to spray, people often acted as if the ice cream truck had come. They were so happy to have mosquitoes repelled. Huge amounts of DDT were sprayed on food and people, who just breathed it in.
Did they all get cancer and die? Nope. Amazingly, there’s no evidence that all this spraying hurt people. It killed mosquitoes. (DDT also kills bedbugs, which are now making a comeback.)
There’s liberal support for it too. Banning DDT has been deeply immoral.
August 10th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Hello ;i have been battling bedbugs for almost one year now.I live in a co-op.it seems that everytime i have my appt sprayed the bb,s go away.oh I did everything my pco instructed me to do.wash all my clothes in hot water,dry them hot,,bag then in plastic trash bags,vacuum rugs,between the cracks and cravices that seperate floors and walls.and you know what happened when they sprayed the cheap stuff they claim kills bed bugs? they only scattered into my neighbors apptSo I ask my dear environmentalist wacko’s in washington why did the pesticides they claim that kills bed bugs did not work?I will tell you why.It is all because environmentalist save the bird wacko by the name of Dr rachal calson.how ever you pronounce the name,and her book called a spring without birds i believe it was called.There is a bill before congress called hr 6068 which make long story short does nothing to eradicate the situation with bed bugs.it has nothing about lifting the ban on DDT,or other potent chemicals.in my opinion this bill does nothing to eradicate the bb situation in this country,except a lot of lip flapping.espcaily the democrat party whom are endorsing this bill. IT IS TIME TO BRING BACK DDT…I STRONGLY SUGGEST ANYONE WHO IS A BED BUG VICTIM TO FLOOD YOR CONGRESSMANS OFFICE WITH CALLS TO BRING THE ONLY WEAPON THAT KILLS THESE TERRORIST CALLED BED BUGS…..