[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.84,0:00:09.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1958, Rachel Carson received a letter
Dialogue: 0,0:00:09.87,0:00:13.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,describing songbirds suddenly dropping \Nfrom tree branches.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.28,0:00:16.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The writer blamed their deaths \Non a pesticide called DDT
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.92,0:00:19.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that exterminators had sprayed \Non a nearby marsh.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:19.92,0:00:23.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The letter was the push \NCarson needed to investigate DDT.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.66,0:00:27.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She had already heard from scientists \Nand conservationists who were worried
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.70,0:00:32.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that rampant use of the pesticide \Nposed a threat to fish, birds,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.23,0:00:33.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and possibly humans.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.86,0:00:36.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She began to make inquiries \Nthrough government contacts
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.92,0:00:40.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from her years working \Nin the United States Bureau of Fisheries.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.36,0:00:45.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She asked: “what has already silenced \Nthe voices of spring?”
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.50,0:00:50.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1962, Carson published her findings \Nin "Silent Spring."
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.78,0:00:53.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Her book documented \Nthe misuse of chemicals
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.51,0:00:56.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and their toll on nature \Nand human health.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.37,0:01:01.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Silent Spring" immediately drew both \Napplause and impassioned dissent—
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.34,0:01:04.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,along with vicious personal attacks \Non the author.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.25,0:01:10.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How did this mild-mannered biologist \Nand writer ignite such controversy?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.12,0:01:13.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Carson began her career \Nas a hardworking graduate student,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.77,0:01:17.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,balancing her studies in biology \Nat John Hopkins University
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.58,0:01:18.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with part time jobs.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.93,0:01:22.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Still, she had to leave school \Nbefore completing her doctorate
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.20,0:01:25.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to provide for her ailing father \Nand sister.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.27,0:01:28.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Carson found part time work \Nwith the Bureau of Fisheries
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.31,0:01:31.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,writing for a radio program \Non marine biology.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.96,0:01:36.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Her ability to write materials that could \Nhold the general public’s attention
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.05,0:01:39.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,impressed her superiors, \Nand in 1936,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.31,0:01:43.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she became the second woman \Nto be hired at the Bureau full time.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:43.35,0:01:47.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1941, she published \Nthe first of three books on the ocean,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.77,0:01:52.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,combining science with lyrical meditations\Non underwater worlds.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.16,0:01:56.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These explorations resonated \Nwith a wide audience.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.51,0:01:59.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In "Silent Spring," \NCarson turned her attention
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.48,0:02:03.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the ways human actions \Nthreaten the balance of nature.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.82,0:02:08.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,DDT was originally used during \NWorld War II to shield crops from insects
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.98,0:02:12.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and protect soldiers \Nfrom insect-borne diseases.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.49,0:02:17.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After the war, it was routinely sprayed \Nin wide swaths to fight pests,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.34,0:02:19.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,often with unforeseen results.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.65,0:02:22.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One attempt to eradicate fire ants \Nin the southern U.S.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.89,0:02:29.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,killed wildlife indiscriminately,\Nbut did little to eliminate the ants.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.06,0:02:33.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In spite of this and other mishaps, \Nthe US Department of Agriculture
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.17,0:02:37.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and chemical companies \Nextolled the benefits of DDT.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.10,0:02:41.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There was little regulation or public \Nawareness about its potential harm.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.17,0:02:44.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But Carson showed how \Nthe overuse of chemicals
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.39,0:02:47.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,led to the evolution \Nof resistant species—
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.42,0:02:51.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which, in turn, encouraged the development\Nof deadlier chemicals.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.75,0:02:54.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Since DDT does not dissolve in water,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.33,0:02:58.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she asserted that over time \Nit would accumulate in the environment,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.80,0:03:03.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the bodies of insects, the tissues \Nof animals who consume those insects,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.10,0:03:04.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and eventually humans.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.84,0:03:09.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She suggested that exposure to DDT \Nmight alter the structure of genes,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.91,0:03:13.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with unknown consequences \Nfor future generations.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.73,0:03:17.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The response to "Silent Spring" \Nwas explosive.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.17,0:03:20.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For many people the book \Nwas a call to regulate substances
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.54,0:03:22.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,capable of catastrophic harm.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.94,0:03:26.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Others objected that Carson \Nhadn’t mentioned DDT’s role
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.80,0:03:30.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,controlling the threat insects \Nposed to human health.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.43,0:03:35.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Former Secretary of Agriculture \NEzra Taft Benson demanded to know
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.28,0:03:40.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“why a spinster with no children \Nwas so concerned about genetics?”
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.50,0:03:44.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and dismissed Carson \Nas “probably a Communist.”
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.77,0:03:49.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A lawyer for a pesticide manufacturer \Nalluded to Carson and her supporters
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.80,0:03:55.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as “sinister influences” \Naiming to paint businesses as “immoral.”
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.58,0:03:59.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In reality, Carson had focused \Non the dangers of chemicals
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.10,0:04:03.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because they weren’t widely understood, \Nwhile the merits were well publicized.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.60,0:04:06.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She rejected the prevailing belief \Nthat humans
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.01,0:04:08.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,should and could control nature.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.74,0:04:11.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Instead, she challenged people \Nto cultivate
Dialogue: 0,0:04:11.54,0:04:16.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“maturity and mastery, not of nature, \Nbut of ourselves.”
Dialogue: 0,0:04:16.69,0:04:20.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Carson died of cancer in 1964,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:20.22,0:04:23.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,only two years after \Nthe publication of "Silent Spring."
Dialogue: 0,0:04:23.91,0:04:28.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Her work galvanized a generation \Nof environmental activists.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.58,0:04:32.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1969, under pressure \Nfrom environmentalists,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:32.32,0:04:36.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Congress passed \Nthe National Environmental Policy Act
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.05,0:04:41.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that required federal agencies to evaluate\Nenvironmental impacts of their actions.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.56,0:04:42.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To enforce the act,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.99,0:04:47.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,President Richard Nixon created \Nthe Environmental Protection Agency.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:47.22,0:04:53.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in 1972, the EPA issued \Na partial ban on the use of DDT.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.57,0:04:58.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Long after her death, Rachel Carson \Ncontinued to advocate for nature
Dialogue: 0,0:04:58.25,0:05:00.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,through the lingering impact \Nof her writing.