August 27, 2014 2:39PM # The Unintended Consequences of Environmental Policy: For the Birds By [Marian L. Tupy](https://www.cato.org/people/marian-l-tupy) --- SHARE So, here is a story to make your blood boil. According to *[National Review](http://www.nationalreview.com/article/386394/bye-bye-birdie-jillian-kay-melchior)*, “the federal government acted with a bias, giving renewable-energy companies a pass on unlawful bird deaths while rigorously prosecuting traditional energy companies for the same infractions.” The *NR* article follows a string of recent stories complaining about *tens of thousands* of birds cut up to pieces or fried in the sky by [ windmills](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-many-birds-do-wind-turbines-really-kill-180948154/?no-ist) and [ solar plants](http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/emerging-solar-plants-scorch-birds-mid-air-25017031). Speaking of birds… Five decades ago, Rachel Carson, of *[Silent Spring](https://www.cato.org/multimedia/events/silent-spring-50-false-crises-rachel-carson)* infamy, helped to ban a pesticide called DDT. Back then, DDT was widely used not only in agriculture, but also in malaria control. Carson argued, among other things, that the use of DDT endangered bird populations. The political left jumped on Carson’s arguments. After a massive campaign, DDT was [ withdrawn](https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/south-africas-war-against-malaria-lessons-developing-world) from agriculture and its use in malaria control was greatly restricted. Most countries followed the American example and banned DDT for use in agriculture. Although developing countries could technically use DDT for disease control, no donor agencies (dominated by western leftists) would support its use. This amounted to a de facto ban of DDT in malaria control. Nobody knows for sure, but thousands of Africans, perhaps millions, have died of malaria since the use of DDT was prematurely discontinued, all because of a hysterical drive to save the birds in the West. Today, tens of thousands of birds are dying to satisfy the newest progressive fetish: the drive for renewable energy. At least they are dying in an environmentally friendly way. As the left likes to say, you cannot make an omelet without breaking some eggs! ##### Related Tags [Energy and Environment](https://www.cato.org/research/energy-environment), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care), [Regulation](https://www.cato.org/regulatory-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).