Free Essays on Silent Spring

In a 1962 letter to a friend, Rachel Carson wrote: The beauty of the living world I was trying to save has always been uppermost in my mind- that, and anger at the senseless, brutish things that were being done. I have felt bound by a solemn obligation to do what I could- if I didn’t at least try I could never be happy again in nature. But now I can believe that I have at least helped a little. It would be unrealistic to believe one book could bring a complete change (Matthiessen 188). Carson did indeed help â€Å"a little.† Her â€Å"one book† helped to reform the pesticide industry by removing DDT from products. While it did not â€Å"bring a complete change† in the use of pesticides, it did bring about an abundance of criticisms, both positive and negative. In this paper, I will analyze some of the different criticisms of Carson’s work. I will look at the mostly negative criticisms and show who disagreed with Carson and why. As Rachel Carson opened consumers’ eyes to the dangers of pesticides, she posed a serious threat to chemical companies everywhere. The industries began to threaten her even before Silent Spring was published. As Peter Matthiessen wrote in Time magazine, she was â€Å"violently assailed by threats of lawsuits and derision† (188). In â€Å"Green PR: Silencing Spring,† Stauber and Rampton claim that Carson’s work resulted in a public relations crisis for the agrichemical industry (16). They state that the Velsicol chemical company attempted to â€Å"intimidate its publisher into changing it or canceling the publication.† Also, the National Agricultural Chemical Association â€Å"doubled its PR budget† and wrote and released thousands of reviews negatively portraying the book. In addition, â€Å"Monsanto chemical company published The Desolate Year, a parody in which failure to use pesticides [caused] a plague of insects that [devastated ] America† (16). On top of the chemical companies’ negat... Free Essays on Silent Spring Free Essays on Silent Spring In a 1962 letter to a friend, Rachel Carson wrote: The beauty of the living world I was trying to save has always been uppermost in my mind- that, and anger at the senseless, brutish things that were being done. I have felt bound by a solemn obligation to do what I could- if I didn’t at least try I could never be happy again in nature. But now I can believe that I have at least helped a little. It would be unrealistic to believe one book could bring a complete change (Matthiessen 188). Carson did indeed help â€Å"a little.† Her â€Å"one book† helped to reform the pesticide industry by removing DDT from products. While it did not â€Å"bring a complete change† in the use of pesticides, it did bring about an abundance of criticisms, both positive and negative. In this paper, I will analyze some of the different criticisms of Carson’s work. I will look at the mostly negative criticisms and show who disagreed with Carson and why. As Rachel Carson opened consumers’ eyes to the dangers of pesticides, she posed a serious threat to chemical companies everywhere. The industries began to threaten her even before Silent Spring was published. As Peter Matthiessen wrote in Time magazine, she was â€Å"violently assailed by threats of lawsuits and derision† (188). In â€Å"Green PR: Silencing Spring,† Stauber and Rampton claim that Carson’s work resulted in a public relations crisis for the agrichemical industry (16). They state that the Velsicol chemical company attempted to â€Å"intimidate its publisher into changing it or canceling the publication.† Also, the National Agricultural Chemical Association â€Å"doubled its PR budget† and wrote and released thousands of reviews negatively portraying the book. In addition, â€Å"Monsanto chemical company published The Desolate Year, a parody in which failure to use pesticides [caused] a plague of insects that [devastated ] America† (16). On top of the chemical companies’ negat...