Driessen glosses over DDT resistance

Big Oil defender and anti-environmentalist writer Paul Driessen has a DDT screed out. He makes a standard erroneous case against environmentalism and the supposed (nonexistent) ban on DDT. He vilifies many of the environmental groups that argued for the reduction of use of DDT due to a) bioaccumulation, b) trophic level effects, and most importantly c) development of resistance in mosquito populations.

Here's the article.

Three billion and counting

Here's what he says about resistance:

"Resistance? Mosquitoes have never become resistant to DDT’s life-saving repellency properties, but they are developing resistance to the pyrethroids used in agriculture – and bed nets."

Here's the facts. Mosquito populations with resistance in their gene bank will very rapidly redevelop it when re-exposed.

Here's some more facts (from Encyclopedia of Earth):

Indoor residual spraying (IRS) is one of the primary vector control interventions for reducing and interrupting malaria transmission. In recent years, however, it has received relatively little attention. Recent data confirms the efficacy and effectiveness of IRS in malaria control in countries where it was implemented well. According to the WHO, effective implementation of IRS with DDT or other recommended insecticides should be a central part of national malaria control strategies where this intervention is appropriate.

Control is implemented with the objective of reducing malaria morbidity and mortality and accelerating progress towards global and national malaria targets. There are important considerations, however, that must be taken into account when considering whether to introduce or scale up IRS. In particular, there must be sufficient capacity to deliver the intervention effectively, to prevent unauthorized use of public health pesticides, and to manage insecticide resistance. Intensified research efforts are needed, for example to develop new insecticides, long-acting formulations and improved application technologies.

Driessen is flacking the movie "3 billion and counting", which apparently makes these same mistaken arguments. My question: what does the movie say about mosquito resistance? Because one of the main reasons for the ban on the widespread spraying use of DDT was that it was so long-lasting in the environment it was easy for mosquito populations to develop resistance. So I'm making a side bet that the movie doesn't say much about that.