Global Warming Update - Twin CitiesIt seems to me that two different issues are being addressed here.
The first is immigration. The second is resource management.
As for immigration, let anyone in who desires to contribute to this wonderful country. However, we must secure our borders and document everyone who wishes to benefit from our freedoms. Immigration is not bad; not knowing anything about the people you're letting in is suicide.
The state in which I reside, Minnesota, has only developed 3% of its land. I don't believe that's too far from the national percentage, so relax. We have plenty of space. And as for managing our resources, we're the most innovative achievers on the planet. Just look at the yield produced from an acre of farmland now vs. 30 years ago...
Don't listen to the likes of Dan Stein and Paul Ehrlich ("smog disasters will kill 200,000 in NY and LA", "the battle to feed humanity is over", "before 1985 mankind will enter a genuine age of scarcity"...). Hand-wringing losers both.
To Chris in Minnesota:
If your State has an endless amount of resources, then you shouldn't mind if we load up thousands of buses in San Diego, and send them all your way. There is no more room at the Hotel California; let's send all future immigrants to the little State on the prairie!!
I'm not too sure you're qualified to judge the effects of population explosion while living in
Minnesota. Come to California and tell me about the benefits of unrestrained population growth. Come out here and assure me that everything will be okay, we have plenty of undeveloped land. Come out here and tell me how our power grid won't be stressed so badly that we have blackouts. Come out here to our schools, many of which are 80% Mexican, and tell me that American children are getting a good education (California is now tied for last in education, but was fifth in 1980). Come to California and reassure me that everything is going to be okay. Come to California and tell me not to listen to "the hand wringing losers".
Most Americans, myself included, do not object to a reasonable number of immigrants admitted into the U.S.A. each year. But the kind of mass immigration we have witnessed in this country in the last twenty years should not continue for another twenty years or the standard of living in the U.S. will erode and our infrastructure will be pushed to the breaking point. Do we want to see the United States be as crowded as China or India? I don't.
Dan Stein is right on with his article. I suggest everyone watch "Immigration Gumballs" at the following link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5871651411393887069
If the link doesn't work, go to Google and type in "Immigration Gumballs Video" and it will be the first link which pops up.
This is a eye-opening presentation by Roy Beck of Numbersusa.com on the effect that legal immigrants are having on our society and environment. America is a compassionate nation and because of our compassion we have put our children and our grandchildren in peril, and most of us do not realize that we have done so.
This video appears to have been made in the mid 90's. In this video the 300,000,000 mark was not supposed to be reached until 2015. But here it is 9 years early. Keep this in mind as you watch the video, because that means the projections are all going to be proportionately higher based on that fact. Also keep in mind that illegal immigrants are not even discussed. We are presently allowing 1,000,000 legal immigrants in annually and Senate Bill 2611 increases that number even more. At the same time we are gaining at least 1,000,000 illegal immigrants annually--that number has steadily gone up with each passing year.
After watching this video I would encourage you to contact your Congressmen (Senate.gov and House.gov)and DEMAND a moratorium on immigration, which was done between 1924 and 1965. 100,000 has got to be the absolute limit for awhile. I would also encourage you to send the Gumballs link to all your friends; people need to be informed and the internet is our only hope.
Chris in Minnesota needs to know that the availability of land is minor. WATER is the big problem. Northern California already has to pipe water down to Southern California and if we haven't done so already, we will soon have to import water from Canada. And this is comparatively minor when one considers the societal problems and the strain on public services, as Mr. Stein states.
I grew up in the 50's and 60's and was a young adult in the 70's. Environmental concern was just beginning to emerge. In order to curb pollution and urban sprawl and to be better able to realize the American Dream, we were encouraged to aim for zero population growth. Which we did. And now we import millions and millions and millions. And these millions apparently do not practice birth control.
Had Johnson not opened the immigration flood gates in 1965, we could have expected a population in this country of 247 million in 2030. We will probably have 400 million by then. This is insanity and it has to be stopped. If you agree and do not contact your Congressmen, then you are part of the problem.
"Minnesota, has only developed 3% of its land"
Is this to imply that the other 97% should be developed? Some of this land is not habitable. What about preserving open space and the environment for future generations? How much land is available for agricultural use?
"...so relax. We have plenty of space."
This kind of blind optimism is not supported by the facts.
Consider:
1. The world appears to have reached its geological peak oil production at 85 million bpd. The effects of peak may be mitigated by demand destruction (e.g. recession) and conservation but
given the needs of a world's population at over 6 billion on its way to 9 billion by 2050, rapid decline is inevitable.
2. Reports are in the press this week concerning major food shortages in more than 40
countries.This trend will worsen with increasing fossil fuel scarcity. As Dale Allen Pfeiffer explains in his newbook Eating Fossil Fuels, given modern agriculture's dependence on oil and natural gas for farming and production of fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides, without abundant and cheap fossil fuels we cannot sustain thepopulation at current levels. For long-term sustainability the U.S. population would have to be no greater than 200 million and the world's population no greater than 2 billion - and that is before factoring in the effects of global warming, the growing problem of water scarcity, and significant issues with soil erosion.
3. Overpopulation goes hand in hand with overconsumption. Water scarcity and rapid depletion of important fresh water sources such as the Ogallalla Aquifer point to a U.S. population growth at unsustainable levels. SUCH PROBLEMS IN THE U.S. AND AROUND THE WORLD ARE NO LONGER AMENABLE TO "RESOURCE MANAGEMENT".
4. It is clear that the U.S. and the world is approaching the tipping point with regard to dangerous levels of pollution that are threatening our ecosystem and our long term health. Pollution of the air, water, and land is not simply a function of industrialized society. Large numbers of humans living in crowded and dense populations produce a lot of organic waste that can decimate the local environment and spread disease.
5. Quality of life issues are paramount for most Americans and the issue of overpopulation is the most critical factor for the problems we currently face. With such social crises as nearly 50 million Americans lacking health insurance and millions more underinsured and/or struggling with high deductibles, coinsurance, and copays - it is pure folly to ignore the compounding effect immigration has on this growing problem.
We can try to ignore things like expanding desertification, deforestation, polar bears drowning in areas with rapid ice melt, Chinese peasants rioting over pollution from the rapid expansion the number of coal-based power plants, an increase in respiratory disorders in the U.S. such as asthma and COPD, the rapid extinction of frogs and other many other species, high levels of mercury contamination in fish, the unrelenting spread of AIDS, particularly in Africa and Asia - an so on and so forth. However, one can put his or his head in the sand for only so long.
Commentators such as "Chris" try to discredit warnings about population pressures by pointing to observers who, while slightly off in their timing, are nonetheless reporting empirical truths about the inevitable consequences of exponential population growth on a planet of with finite resources. By making assumptions that since the day of reckoning has not yet come it will never come, the myopics are oblivious to the irony of their unfounded optimism since delaying the correction will only mean that when the correction comes it will be that more devastating.
Dan Stein speaks of the need for responsible stewardship of our society for future generations of Americans. This requires a LONG view that seems to be sorely lacking within an economic and political system that thrives on short-term gain.
10/16/06 Observed high temp - 56
10/16/05 Observed high temp - 68
10/16 Record high temp - 86 - 1938
