New at Reason

Julian Sanchez | January 19, 2005

Now I don't mean this should scare ya / But the UN won't fight malaria. / You remember Jeffrey Sachs? / Ron Bailey's column takes a couple wacks.

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Warren|1.19.05 @ 11:19AM|#

Amen Ron. I remember cursing at my TV last week when I saw this story. Three dollars per person indeed.

|1.19.05 @ 11:45AM|#

My wife is training a guy from Tanzania in her lab (he's a doctoral candidate) and he's quite pro-DDT use. He is a medical doctor and has seen first hand the ravages of malaria.

|1.19.05 @ 11:47AM|#

DDT is going to be a difficult one to overturn...every "soccer mom" was scared to death by the loony left on that one.

Imagine trying to convince Molly Minivan that DDT is okay and won't affect her children.

|1.19.05 @ 11:57AM|#

TPG,

Well, to be frank, we don't need to use DDT in the U.S., so it shouldn't be a very big domestic issue in the U.S. I suppose they could argue that it will be used on imported crops for pest control, but its use as a malaria control method is an entirely different matter. Plus you can just call the enviro-loons "racists" and the like for good measure. :)

|1.19.05 @ 12:17PM|#

Clara at the Columbia Libertarians blog pointed out yesterday that ol' Professor Sachs hasn't put his $8.2 million townhouse on the market to feed the poor...

|1.19.05 @ 12:33PM|#

Gary,

Unless American Mosquitoes are signifigently different from African critters, I don't really see the problem with DDT in the US. Spray $10 worth of stuff around your baseboards and mosquitos will stay out of your house. Cheap and effective. Sounds like a good deal for everyone.

Unfortunately, the chemo-phobic EPA will never allow it in the country. Killing Dursband and Diazinon was the best thing that could have happened for insect-kind.

|1.19.05 @ 12:57PM|#

BigPhil,

My point is that malaria is not a major issue in the U.S. anymore; we control it without the use of DDT and we're rich enough to forgo its use without incurring much in the way of cost.

|1.19.05 @ 1:25PM|#

New at Reason? Your standards for post headlines have really declined.

DavidS|1.19.05 @ 2:10PM|#

Sachs signed a letter in 1999 opposing the banning of DDT. I believe he's also on record supporting DDT spraying programmes in South Africa and other countries.

|1.19.05 @ 2:19PM|#

I suppose they could argue that it will be used on imported crops for pest control...

Bingo. That is how the environuts will market their campaign.

|1.19.05 @ 5:53PM|#

Gary,

I understand your point. However, DDT is cheap, effective and there is no one-for-one substitute. In the US, we can afford more expensive pesticides. Why should we be forced to buy them. There are absolutely no negative environmental or human impacts to the stuff unless you dump it out by gallon (but even that is open for debate). If it's good enough for Africa, why is it not good enough for Ohio?