Interview with Rachel Carson: climate change history
Here is a transcript for what an interview with Rachel Carson would have looked like. Our goal is to explore how climate change was viewed fifty years ago and consider how the ideas have changed over time.
Editor’s Note
This archive is intended to shed a light on the beginning of the environmental movement, and how the struggles scientists and activists faced back then are strikingly similar to the challenges we face now. With the recent Paris Conference closing, efforts were made by the countries who rely on the oil industry to stall or delay the global effort to reduce carbon emission. Similar efforts were made by the pesticide industry in the 60s and 70s to prevent government regulation on production of chemicals such as DDT. We should learn from past mistakes in history and move forward, not fall over the same obstacle again and again.
Host: Hello and welcome to XKCD 99’s weekly segment, Featured Author. This week we will be talking with an author whose work has recently been involved in a huge controversy with the pesticide industry. In fact, she had just finished testifying to the Senate on this issue. Here is Rachel Carson, author of the book, Silent Spring. Welcome Miss Carson.
Carson: Thank you for having me.
Host: It is our understanding that Silent Spring is meant to be a wake up call to many Americans. In your opening chapter A Fable For Tomorrow, you described a perfect town in harmony with nature. However, that harmony was soon destroyed, “silenced”, by the spraying of pesticides. What prompted you to undertake such an interesting and, may I say, wild idea?
Carson: Well, if one takes a careful look at research data, then it does not seem like such a wild idea. For myself personally, I got the idea to write the book after a friend wrote me. She talked about how the birds near her house have been dying due to mass spraying of DDT, and that was sort of the trigger for me.
Host: You are a best-selling author before Silent Spring. Your previous books include, most notably, Under the Sea Wind, The Sea Around Us, and The Edge of The Sea. In all of them, you expressed a love for the ocean, as well as the sentiment that nature is resilient and fluid. There is a sort of poetic language you use to describe the interconnectedness of nature. Why choose to change that style, proved to be successful with their best selling status, and opt for a warning and formidable tone?
Carson: It is true that in my previous books, I strived to provide a narrative that focused on the web of life, so to speak. I tried hard to let people see how all living things are connected with each other, from the fish in the darkest corner of the ocean, to the sea birds skimming along on the surface. However, while nature is very resilient and adaptive, it is also vulnerable. And pesticides exposed that. I thought it was important in Silent Spring to prove it to people.
Host: I think it is safe to say that most people were surprised at some of the things Silent Spring exposed about pesticides. Most people recognize it as the chemical substance that successfully prevented malaria outbreak during World War II in the South Pacific Islands. Its inventor won the Nobel Prize. To argue that it actually has such a detrimental effect on nature, Miss Carson, you’ve stirred up quite the hornet’s nest.
Carson: Yes, there was quite a bit of controversy when the book first got published. In fact, it almost never got published. It was first serialized in The New Yorker, and the pesticides industry was very vocal about their discontent with the contents. Vesicol [Editor’s Note: a chemical company] actually threatened to sue Silent Spring’s publisher, Houghton Mifflin, unless they cancel the publishing.
Host: One wouldn’t be surprised at the backlash, given on how much money DDT and other pesticides are bringing in for the pesticide industry. In fact, DDT production reached a record 82,000 tons last year. Were you prepared for the controversy at all?
Carson: My colleagues and I were very aware of the web of benefits associated with the pesticide industry. We tried to gather as much support as possible before publishing. Most of the scientific content in the book was reviewed by my colleagues with the relevant expertise. I received a lot of positive support from them, for which I am very grateful. There was the serialization in The New Yorker and Audubon. My publisher went around and distributed proof copies to various delegates at the White House. Silent Spring was also selected to be a Book of the Month by the Book of the Month Club for October 1962. This would enable the book to be carried to all the farms and hamlets of the country that don’t know what a book store looks like, much less the The New Yorker. I also sent a copy to Justice William Douglas [Editor’s Note: Supreme Court Justice from 1898 to 1980]. He was a long time environmental advocate against spraying of pesticides, and also provided materials for the book.
Host: Unfortunately though, it did not seem to be enough. Some of the backlash was particularly vehement, and from scientists too. Some claim that if we stop using pesticides, we will go back to the caveman age when giant insects roamed the land. Here is a direct quote from Robert White-Stevens, one of the arguably most aggressive critic of Silent Spring. “If men were to follow the teachings of Miss Carson, we would return to the Dark Ages, and the insects and diseases and vermins would once again inherit the earth.” What do you think of these criticisms?
Carson: It is a point that I have to repeatedly make. If they read my book, they will see that I am not advocating that we stop using pesticides completely. There are scientific proof and evidence to show that certain pesticides will affect the environment in a negative way. We will need to raise public awareness on the pros and cons of DDT, and essentially educate the public on whether or not they should allow government spraying chemicals onto their land. We also need to study carefully whether or not the things we put into nature’s system will actually cause negative impacts. I think it is a little strange right now for most of us to think that our actions may be bad for the environment. But, human technology has advanced enough that nature is no longer the all-powerful resilient thing we made it out to be.
Host: Speaking of the government, there are a lot of powerful supporters of your book as well. Most notably, President John F. Kennedy ordered a study on the use of pesticides, and you testified before the Science Advisory Committee. The Committee later went on to publish a study, backing most of your claims. A lot of the people comment that you are nothing your critics made you out to be. During your public appearances, you are clear and cautious in your answers. In fact, sometimes we don’t even know who the hysterical alarmist is, you or Robert White-Stevens! [laugh]
Carson: [laugh] Yes, it was interesting to see some of the claims he made about me. There is, however, nothing to be hysterical about. Science is about evidence, and most of the scientists agree that pesticides are harming the environment. The interconnectedness of nature is precisely why we should be careful on what we put into it. One day the DDT the government sprayed into the field may end up on some family’s dining table. In Silent Spring, I spell out the disasters DDT cause for wildlife species. For some of these, such as fish in a brook, there is a chance that they will be sold for food at markets later.
Host: Well, I’m sure everything will become clear in due time. Once again, Miss Carson is the author of Silent Spring. Thank you very much for joining us today.
Carson: Thank you.