NYT on DDT – Better Late than Never: This Sunday New York Times magazine story, “What the World Needs Now Is DDT” has sparked lots of comment. The story points out that DDT is arguably the most important tool for fighting malaria in the developing world. A recent Cato Institute paper makes the same point (as does Africa Fighting Malaria). Of course, regular readers fo this blog have known about the benefits of DDT for quite some time. I blogged about on DDT nearly two years ago here. As I posted at the time:

What lessons should we draw from DDT? I think there are several. First, DDT, like most chemical substances, is reasonably safe when used responsibly, and harmful when used indiscriminately. Second, doing without DDT is relatively easy in wealthy countries like the United States, as we can afford alternatives. Doing without DDT in many poorer countries, however, means that people die. Third, the story of DDT illustrates the trade-offs that are inherent in most environmental policy questions. Pesticide use (or overuse) can cause environmental harms, such as the decline of bird species due to DDT. The prohibition of pesticide use can mean the loss of habitat or, in the case of DDT, a resurgence of malaria. It is not clear to me why good environmentalists must be more concerned about the former than the latter.

Of course, DDT is not without its downsides. In the United States, there is a strong case that DDT use threatened several species of birds (see here and here). This merely reinforces the point that trade offs are ubiquitous in environmental policy.