One of Life's Little Coincidences

The Counting Crows (inferior) version of "Big Yellow Taxi" was playing in the supermarket a few days ago and I have been humming it ever since. I have always liked the original Joni Mitchell version, but the following verse irritates me:

Hey farmer farmer
Put away that DDT now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Now every conservative knows that Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, which was almost single-handedly responsible for the world wide ban on (the Nobel Prize winning) DDT, was based on sloppy research and outright falsification. Furthermore, malaria, bubonic plague and other diseases that are virtually eliminated in the West, due to largely to DDT, have been on the rise for years in Africa, killing literally millions. Thinking about all this, I came across Juan Non-Volokh's piece over at the Conspiracy. (That's the coincidence mentioned in the title.)

So, I have been trying to come up with some scientifically accurate replacement lyrics that still keep to the enviro-left spirit of the piece. My poetic skill kind of suck, but this might do for a start:

Hey farmer farmer
Put that DDT away
It may stop the plague, but
There's too many Africans anyway
Hey!

Further suggestions are welcome.

UPDATE: Reuters reports that the UN has a $4 million plan to use "Atomic Technology" to fight the malaria mosquito. But the title is more sexy than the actual plan, which is just a variation on the old tactic of using sterile males to thin out the mosquito population. I wonder how the costs would compare to simply spraying them with DDT?

UPDATE: In addition to the FrontPage article cited above, Pastorius sends an interview (also from FrontPage) with Dr. Paul Dreisen, who details a more general accusation against the enviro-left. Teaser:

"Radical greens are masters at devising exaggerated, imaginary and bogus eco-catastrophes – then imposing policies that give them unprecedented power, deprive other people of their freedoms and opportunities, impoverish entire nations, and cause not just impoverishment, but incalculable misery, disease and death. Of course, they claim their actions are motivated by concern for people, animals and the planet. However, the ecological benefits are often minimal to non-existent, the human toll is profound, and the absence of real compassion, ethics or social responsibility is glaring."

Read the whole article.