Professor Christopher Lingle, in his very political Aug. 6 article, "Don't play politics with lifesaving DDT," does not seem to know what he is talking about. The ban on DDT has saved the U.S. environment from many difficulties. The bald eagle is being taken off the endangered species list and the brown pelican has made a tremendous comeback from almost extinction -- all due to the three-decade-long ban on DDT. You cannot put something so powerful and dangerous into the environment without changing and damaging it.

Lingle says he works for the Center for Civil Society, yet ends his article with false accusations against environmentalists. How can his approach be called "civil"? It makes you wonder what his center is really all about.

Environmentalists are pro-economic growth and pro-technology. We just want to make sure that the economies we have are sustainable and that the environment we live in will be safe for our children and their children. That's a civil society.

james kelim