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The Unintended Consequences of Environmental Policy: For the Birds
From Marian L. Tupy of Cato.
"So, here is a story to make your blood boil. According to National Review,
“the federal government acted with a bias, giving renewable-energy
companies a pass on unlawful bird deaths while rigorously prosecuting
traditional energy companies for the same infractions.” The NR article follows a string of recent stories complaining about tens of thousands of birds cut up to pieces or fried in the sky by windmills and solar plants.
Speaking of birds…
Five decades ago, Rachel Carson, of Silent Spring
infamy, helped to ban a pesticide called DDT. Back then, DDT was widely
used not only in agriculture, but also in malaria control. Carson
argued, among other things, that the use of DDT endangered bird
populations. The political left jumped on Carson’s arguments. After a
massive campaign, DDT was withdrawn
from agriculture and its use in malaria control was greatly restricted.
Most countries followed the American example and banned DDT for use in
agriculture.
Although developing countries could technically use DDT for disease
control, no donor agencies (dominated by western leftists) would support
its use. This amounted to a de facto ban of DDT in malaria control.
Nobody knows for sure, but thousands of Africans, perhaps millions, have
died of malaria since the use of DDT was prematurely discontinued, all
because of a hysterical drive to save the birds in the West.
Today, tens of thousands of birds are dying to satisfy the newest
progressive fetish: the drive for renewable energy. At least they are
dying in an environmentally friendly way.
As the left likes to say, you cannot make an omelet without breaking some eggs!"
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