Overview

"DDT Wars is the untold inside story of the decade-long scientific, legal and strategic campaign that culminated in the national ban of the insecticide DDT in 1972. The widespread misinformation, disinformation and mythology of the DDT issue are corrected in this book. DDT contamination had become worldwide, concentrating up food chains and causing birds to lay thin-shelled eggs that broke in the nests. Populations of many species of predatory and fish-eating birds collapsed, including the American Bald Eagle, Osprey, Peregrine Falcon and Brown Pelican. Their numbers recovered spectacularly in the decades following the ban. During the campaign DDT and five other insecticides were found to cause cancer in laboratory tests, which led to bans of these six pesticides by international treaty in 2001. This campaign produced lasting changes in American pesticide policies. The legal precedents broke down the court ""standing"" barrier, forming the basis for the development of environmental law as we know it today. This case history represents one of the greatest environmental victories of recent decades. DDT is still ""controversial"" because it has been deceptively interjected into the ""climate wars."" This campaign was led by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), founded in 1967 by ten citizens, most of them scientists, volunteers without special political connections or financial resources. Their strategy was to take environmental problems to court. There were many setbacks along the way in this exciting and entertaining story. The group was often kicked out of court, but a few determined citizens made a large difference for environmental protection and public health. Author Charles Wurster was one of the leaders of the campaign. The first six years of EDF history are described as it struggled to survive. Now EDF is one of the world's great environmental advocacy organizations defending our climate, ecosystems, oceans and public health."

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9780190219413

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Terrific book! Charlie Wurster's first-person account of the banning of DDT, with its many lasting benefits, vividly captures the mixture of careful science and seat-of-the-pants grassroots activism that launched the modern environmental movement. It is invigorating to be reminded of the audacity of those who set out to change the world without money, legal precedent, or meaningful political support -- and succeeded! --Denis Hayes, Organizer of the first Earth Day in 1970 and co-author of COWED: The Hidden Impact of 93 Million Cows on America A gripping firsthand account of the start of environmental public interest law and the early struggles with the ubiquitous application of DDT. Wurster provides a vivid sense of what it took to be an environmental pioneer: giant steps that should never be taken for granted or forgotten. --Thomas E. Lovejoy, University Professor of Environmental Science and Public Policy, George Mason University DDT Wars reads like the stuff of fiction. But it's true. In the 1960s, a rag tag group of scientists and lawyers sue some of the nation's most powerful industries for violating environmental laws that don't yet exist. Yet, they won. First, in courts. Next in agencies. And, finally in Congress. What began as close to legal bluffing, fueled by personal courage and compelling science, ultimately helped catalyze the creation of modern environmental law in the United States. It is a story well worth remembering as seemingly insurmountable obstacles hinder our ability to address our greatest environmental challenge ever -- climate change. --Richard J. Lazarus, Howard J. & Katherine Aibel Professor of Law, Harvard Law School and Author of The Making of Environmental Law (2004) This is an especially appropriate time for DDT Wars to be published, as scientists are beginning to realize that the poisoning of Earth may be as serious a problem as climate disruption. This is the story of the first legal success in stopping the spread of one of the toxic synthetic compounds that threatened the birds of the world and triggered Rachel Carson to write SILENT SPRING. Its author another hero of mine who was deeply involved in that victory, and the book takes me back to the days when we hoped the legal system could be used to avoid environmental catastrophe. --Paul R. Ehrlich, co-author of THE DOMINANT ANIMALA vital account. --Publisher's Weekly

Author Information

Charles F. Wurster is a founding member of the Environmental Defense Fund and Professor Emeritus of Environmental Sciences, State University of New York at Stony Brook.

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