The Rachel Carson Institute

Rachel Carson had a special fondness for the monarch butterfly, its complex life journey and its intrinsic beauty. My blog post this month was inspired by metamorphosis.

Metamorphosis- A model for our way forward Patricia M. DeMarco August 9, 2019 The monarch butterfly has become an iconic emblem of the need to preserve the environment.  As insect populations decline from loss of habitat due to cl…

Reverse osmosis removes heavy metals like lead.

The Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority is working to address high lead levels, but misinformation and current testing practices could put residents at risk “They are giving the worst possible advice for homes with lead service lines.”

Follow my Blog on www.patriciademarco.com This month discussing Moving from Awareness to Action.

Patricia DeMarco Ph.D. "Live in harmony with nature."

The Pittsburgh Premier is SOLD OUT for Power of One Voice. You can see the film at Chatham in the Eddy Theater on February 21, 2015. details are here; http://wwwpowerofonevoicefilm.com
this event is free to students and open to the public with a reservation required.

Please attend the Pittsburgh Premier of "The Power of One Voice- A 50 Year Perspective on the Life of Rachel Carson.
http://powerofonevoicefilm.com/

The Power of One Voice - Rachel Carson - Trailer 2 The Power of One Voice: A 50-Year Perspective on the Life of Rachel Carson is a groundbreaking documentary examining the life of Rachel Carson and the profou...

My wish for the New Year:
May we raise a chorus of strong voices
Pleading to protect the living environment so we can be healthy;
Working together for justice so we can have peace; and
Standing for social equity so we can all share prosperity.

In this Season of sharing thanks and blessings among those we care about, I thank all of you my Colleagues and Friends for all you do to make the world a better place!

Patricia DeMarco

Now a Chatham Senior Scholar, I am writing a book based on Rachel Carson's environmental ethic to be titled "Pathways to Our Sustainable Future" Rachel Carson's work set out principles for taking precaution in protecting the living Earth from destruction; principles for connecting people to the natural world and valuing the ecosystem services we depend on for our life support.
Let me know if you are interested in sharing your vision for the future.

Dear Colleagues:

I share with you some of Rachel Carson’s observations that shook the world 50 years ago:

“For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of conception until death.”(Silent Spring p. 15) Rachel Carson was referring here to the accumulation of pesticides after a mere two decades of widespread use. Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention perform bioassays on statistically representative samples of our population, including newborn infants, documenting the accumulation of hundreds of synthetic chemicals in our bodies, including at least 79 known mutagens and carcinogens. While Rachel Carson’s voice raised in objection to the blatant broadcast of poisons was effective in bringing change to the gross pollution of air, land and water rampant up to the early 1970’s, the more insidious contamination from toxic chemicals persists. Her message of caution in preventing exposure of the living earth to synthetic materials whose ultimate effect is not known has not been encoded in law here…not yet.

The work initiated in Silent Spring remains as the most challenging need of our time – to live in harmony with natural laws, to preserve our life support system on this Earth – fresh air, clean water, fertile ground and biodiversity of species with whom we share this living planet. The arrogant assumption that we can control nature, subjugate it to our immediate benefit and exploit it indefinitely must be challenged if we are to survive at all. Rachel Carson’s challenge in the closing chapter of Silent Spring speaks to all of us today:
“We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost’s familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress at great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road – the one “less traveled by” – offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of our earth.” (Silent Spring. Page 277.) In January 1963, in a speech to the Garden Club of America, Rachel Carson gave “A New Chapter to Silent Spring” in which she said: “The battle for a sane policy for controlling unwanted species will be a long and difficult one. The publication of Silent Spring was neither the beginning nor the end of that struggle. …. We should be very clear about what our cause is. What do we oppose? What do we stand for?”

The study of environmental science, environmental health, sustainability, renewable energy systems, organic gardening and green chemistry offer many productive pathways forward to a system of living and running our economy that does not continue the path of destruction. The next phase of the environment movement that Silent Spring helped to launch must focus on what we stand FOR. We can articulate the solutions to our past pathway, illustrating a new way forward to preserve a living earth for ourselves and the generations that come after. Rachel Carson changed the world’s thinking about our relationship to the environment. Her one strong voice through the written word moved our entire culture. We are her living legacy. Be bold to add your own voice to meet the challenge of the 21st century with her preparedness, passion and courage.

Best regards,

Patty

Live in harmony with nature.

http://chronicle.com/article/Rachel-Carsons-Prescience/134012/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Rachel Carson's Prescience - The Chronicle Review - The Chronicle of Higher Education As "Silent Spring" turns 50, the environment is in even more peril than Rachel Carson feared.

The 2012 Rachel Carson Legacy Conference : Our Planet and Our Health - The Impact of Silent Spring after 50 Years.
Keynote speaker FrancescaSantoro from UNESCO in Paris gives a perspective from the Interovernmental Oceanographic Commission. The American Chemical Society designates Silent Spring as a National Historic Chemical Landmark.
You do not want to miss this one! Register NOW! https://www.chatham.edu/rachelcarson/events/rclc/register/

Register | Rachel Carson Legacy Conference | Chatham University, Pittsburgh, PA Rachel Carson's bookSilent Spring, published 50 years ago in 1962, brought global attention to the consequences of unrestrained use of toxic pesticides such as DDT. Among the actions taken in response to her work was a ban on DDT by the newly formed environmental Protection Agency in 1976, over a de...