This month marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of the American biologist Rachel Carson’s seminal book The Silent Spring, which lifted the veil on a major environmental issue, particularly the indiscriminate use of pesticides. As the first whistleblower in the US she opened a Pandora’s box, forcing successive governments to enact stringent laws.
Carson’s most forceful and compelling lines in her ground-breaking book deserve to be quoted in toto, especially as they are directed at literate farmers and not at illiterate peasants:
“It is not my contention that chemical insecticides must never be used. I do contend that we have put poisonous and biologically potent chemicals indiscriminately into the hands of persons largely or wholly ignorant of their potential for harm. We have subjected enormous numbers of people to contact with these poisons without their consent and often without their knowledge.”
As the environmentally conscious world celebrates this historic event with lectures and concerts, it is well to point out the local authorities’ great responsibility to protect us and the ecosystem against the threat and consequences of these toxic substances.
In spite of the importance of Carson’s plea exactly 50 years ago in our island nobody seems to be interested in her achievement, which goes to prove that for some anniversaries are only an accident of the calendar.
As a crumb of comfort could our TV and radio stations give us a rendering of the commissioned symphonic work The Silent Spring, premiered last February in the US?