Good DDT

This column points out some interesting facts about the chemical DDT.

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. DDT was once used every where to kill bugs and more importantly kill mosquitoes. Mosquitoes that carry malaria. But it was stopped. Not because people got cancer, but because it threatened bird populations because it thinned the eggshells.

The result of banning DDT was a "huge resurgence" of malaria. It has killed almost 50 million since DDT was banned (50 years). DDT will save lives by fighting malaria in Africa, but our government refuses to use it because it might offen environmentalist and cause political fallout.

So in the battle between the rich, white, tree-huggers against the poor, black, kids of Africa, the tree-huggers are winning.