The “Humane Insecticides” article talks about using different insecticides that are equally lethal, rather than reducing insecticide use. (It expresses similar concerns as those you raise about the sign of reducing insecticide use.) The 250,000 number is an amount of pain equivalent to that many pesticide deaths.
That said, I’m somewhat skeptical about the number quoted in the article because it ignores a lot of costs (e.g., setup costs, identifying the right alternative chemicals, etc.). I first wrote it in 2007 when I was less attuned to the arguments for conservatism in cost-effectiveness estimates.
Still, some other estimates suggest similar orders of magnitude for how much expected insect suffering can be prevented per dollar, although these interventions are mostly more controversial (and more speculative).
Hi Michael :)
The “Humane Insecticides” article talks about using different insecticides that are equally lethal, rather than reducing insecticide use. (It expresses similar concerns as those you raise about the sign of reducing insecticide use.) The 250,000 number is an amount of pain equivalent to that many pesticide deaths.
That said, I’m somewhat skeptical about the number quoted in the article because it ignores a lot of costs (e.g., setup costs, identifying the right alternative chemicals, etc.). I first wrote it in 2007 when I was less attuned to the arguments for conservatism in cost-effectiveness estimates.
Still, some other estimates suggest similar orders of magnitude for how much expected insect suffering can be prevented per dollar, although these interventions are mostly more controversial (and more speculative).