Considered as powerful as novels like Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, Silent Spring by Rachel Carson is one of the most renowned books concerning environmental degradation in the 20th century. Throughout the book, Carson delineated the many detrimental effects on the environment that the use of pesticides had caused. Galvanized by a letter mourning the mass murder of birds caused by DDT, Carson took it upon herself to expose how such pesticides could negatively impact the whole food chain. Dubbed as “biocides,” Carson argued that the effects of such pesticides often have a much greater area of effect than advertised. Many critics of Carson’s book claim that she called for an immediate and outright ban of DDT – however, Carson only suggested that DDT and other pesticides be “employed… such that they do not destroy us along with the insects.” Along with her main argument that pesticides are a vice to the environment, Carson also tried to expose the chemical industry of spreading false information – indeed at the time many officials accepted the “research” conducted by chemical companies without question. Needless to say, such companies grew vitriolic towards Silent Spring with some companies even threatening legal …show more content…
In the first case, the Department of Agriculture attempted to eliminate the gypsy moth by spraying pesticides. The pesticides were sprayed indiscriminately, and many populated towns on Long Island were affected. Livestock and wildlife alike perished, and the damages became so detrimental that the public filed several court cases hoping to stop the spraying. Like the gypsy month spraying, the fire ant campaign had similar effects. After releasing a movie depicting the fire ant as a danger to public health, over twenty million acres were sprayed with dieldrin and heptachlor, resulting in almost complete destruction of wildlife and