The New ‘Silent Spring’

In the mid-1900s, governments and industries across the globe were using the pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, or DDT.

Then came Silent Spring, a book by Rachel Carson that thoroughly documented the harm caused by DDT to waters, to wildlife and to people. It galvanized a movement that ultimately led to the chemical’s large-scale ban.

Now some are saying a new Silent Spring movement must happen, because a pesticide 5,000 to 7,000 times more potent than DDT is here: neonicotinoids, which are used on millions of acres of soybeans, corn and other crops in the United States alone.

To Dan Raichel of NRDC, this is “public enemy number one” to pollinators. Fortunately, just like DDT, we can make systemic change for the benefit of farmers, food and nature alike. Canadian provinces already have. In our next Common Groundwater podcast episode, Dan breaks down the potency, popularity and persistence of ‘neonics’ and the plan to address them.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts

To learn more about NRDC’s pollinator work, click here.

Are you part of a Michigan-based group or business interested in protecting pollinators and saving farmers money? Email Dan for more information: draichel@nrdc.org.

Common Groundwater is hosted by the Michigan Environmental Council and Beau Brockett Jr.

Our music is “The Four Seasons” by Antonio Vivaldi, arranged by Derek Zhang and performed by Taj Wallace.

Our series is produced in partnership with NRDC, an international nonprofit that works to safeguard the earth—its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends.