A “Must Read” Study
Texas Drought Worst in 50 Years

COMMENTARY: by NPG President Donald Mann

            When Vice President Biden visited Iraq last month he attended a ceremony in Baghdad at which 237 U.S. service members were sworn in as American citizens.  As CNN reported the event it noted:  “Standing in the shadow of a 50-foot American flag, the service members recited the Oath of Allegiance and the Pledge of Allegiance…Many of the soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen were from places like Mexico, the Philippines, and Haiti.”  It went on to note that “Biden extolled America’s ‘remarkable, remarkable diversity’ and its destination as a refuge for immigrants, saying newcomers are the ‘lifeblood’ of the country and that ‘there’s always room for more’.”  (Underlining by NPG for emphasis as we certainly disagree with this statement.)

            Certainly, no one will deny the right of those admirable men and women who put their lives on the line to protect and defend our country to share in all of the glories of American citizenship.

            However, I truly believe it is a huge mistake for the Vice President of the United States to tell the world that “there’s always room for more” here in our already overcrowded nation.  NPG supports a population policy that would restrict legal immigration to no more than 200,000 people annually.  That is a far cry from saying that the welcome mat is out for unlimited numbers of newcomers.

            Such wrong-headed remarks sadly reflect the thinking of too many over- promising political leaders who, in their vain attempt to gain support among the masses, so willingly ignore the reality that America is already vastly overpopulated.  The “must read” article highlighted below focuses on the calamities that await our nation as a result of today’s lax immigration policies.

            Where the Vice President is so very much off base in his “room for more” comment is that it gives great hope to millions of individuals, now living in impoverished nations or suffering under politically repressive regimes, that if they can get to our shores or sneak across our borders, they are home free and can soon share in the American Dream.  Present efforts to legalize millions of illegal immigrants and grant them amnesty/citizenship only heighten their desire to get to America.

            One of my biggest fears in confronting the upcoming battle on immigration reform is that logic will be thrown out the window and we will set a new national immigration policy based on political expediency.  If amnesty/citizenship becomes a reality, it will only set the stage for a new influx of illegal immigrants who will bet their lives on the chance to share in the next round of reform…or the next…or the next.  That’s not the way to tackle our population crisis.

 

A “MUST READ” STUDY

            NPG considers research and education the core of our mission.  And while our associates carry out critical population research we are always ready to acknowledge the efforts of fellow writers whose work helps to promote the idea that we need a smaller, truly sustainable population.

            The Center for Immigration Studies recently posted on their website a Backgrounder for a forthcoming article written by William Staples III and Philip Cafaro that will appear in Environmental Ethics.  Titled “The Environmental Argument for Reducing Immigration to the United States,” this fact-filled commentary is a “must read” for NPG friends and supporters, especially on the eve of what is expected to be a push for major immigration reform on Capitol Hill this fall.  Please note that, just like CIS, NPG does not endorse all of the policies discussed in the article – especially those related to permitting immigration rules to remain as is or to even expand immigration – but it is important that we all familiarize ourselves with the arguments advanced for such measures.

            A summary of the Backgrounder provided by CIS at the beginning of the study is reprinted here to highlight some of the valuable information it contains:

            “This Backgrounder argues that a serious commitment to environmentalism entails ending America’s population growth by implementing a more restrictive immigration policy.  The need to limit immigration necessarily follows when we combine a clear statement of our environmental goals – living sustainably and sharing the landscape generously with other species – with uncontroversial accounts of our current demographic trajectory and of the negative environmental effects of U.S. population growth, nationally and globally.

            “At the current level of 1.5 million immigrants per year, America’s population of 306 million is set to increase to over 700 million people by 2100.  Recent ‘reform’ proposals would actually increase immigration to over two million annually, which has the potential to nearly triple our population to over 850 million by the end of the century.  Conversely, scaling back immigration to 200,000 per year would greatly reduce America’s population growth, according to studies by the U.S. Census Bureau.

            “Given the many issues that environmentalists must deal with and the contentious nature of immigration debates, it is understandable that many of us would prefer to avoid them.  But the reality is that across the country, the environmentalists are losing the battle to create a sustainable society and protect our fragile environment.  Sprawl development destroys 2.2 million acres of wild lands and agricultural lands each year; over 1300 plant and animal species remain on the endangered species list, with more added each year; water shortages in the west and southwest are being used to justify new river-killing dams and reservoirs; and U.S. carbon emissions continue to rise.  Obviously, we haven’t figured out how to create a sustainable society with 300 million inhabitants.  It’s not plausible to think we will be able to do so with two or three times as many people.”

            The full article can be accessed on the CIS website at www.CIS.org.

 

TEXAS DROUGHT WORST IN 50 YEARS

            Washington, D.C. may be awash in discussions about the billions of dollars being spent to rescue the nation’s economy but in Texas the talk these days is about the billions of dollars in crop and livestock losses that are rapidly accumulating in the wake of that state’s worst drought in five decades.

            A half-page story in The Wall Street Journal last week noted that “the heat wave has drastically reduced reservoirs and forced about 230 public water systems to declare mandatory restrictions.”  It quoted Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples as summing up the crisis in one word:  “devastating.”

            The Journal article points out that:  “In Texas, rainfall levels started declining in the south and central parts of the state in late 2007.  The dry weather has been exacerbated this summer by a spell of unusually high temperatures.”

            Texas had a drought in the 1950’s that lasted seven years.  Authorities are hopeful that relief will come later this year with above average rainfall predicted for some of the hard hit regions.

            The Texas drought seems to be occurring under the radar of national headlines. As the Journal notes, “While Texas is the nation’s top producer of cattle and cotton and a leading provider of other crops…many other areas of the U.S. have received normal or above-average rainfall this year, mitigating the potential for widespread economic fallout… .”

            NPG notes that many areas of the South and Southwest which have experienced huge increases in population growth in the past few decades have been fortunate to be rescued from major disasters by an advantageous turn of weather that brought drought relief, but at some point the luck will run out.  (Only a few years ago, Atlanta was at a point where they had less than a 30 day supply of water.)  When Texas was last hit by a long-term drought in the 1950’s it had a population of 7.4 million.  Today, its population is over 24 million.  Without a reduction in population, Texas and its neighboring states will have to confront future droughts with the need to provide water to tens of millions more people.  Congress may be able to roll the presses and print new money to relieve the nation’s fiscal crisis, but the government has yet to find a way to make rain. Click here to read more

 

POPULATION AND IMMIGRATION NEWS

WHEN?

            The question still looms in our nation’s capital:  When will Congress get around to debating and voting on immigration reform?

            The truth is that both sides on this issue would like to see it addressed and resolved.  But even following the on again/off again White House summit on the issue which was finally held on June 25, the timetable is not clear.

            Actually, the “summit” was more of a closed-door meeting with the President and 25 members of Congress – a strong majority of whom are surely on his side in the quest to grant amnesty/citizenship to the 13-20 million illegal immigrants now in our country.

            Senator Charles Schumer (D., NY), the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee that will oversee this issue, has promised to have legislation written by Labor Day.  However, there have to be some serious questions being raised as to the commitment by the White House to take up this issue as soon as they originally promised.  Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is on record that immigration reform is the No. 3 priority on his agenda this year – but the year is soon running out.

            Of late, there is much worry that immigration reform will fall victim to the new Congressional schedule now that the final Congressional debate on health care legislation has been moved to September/October and the administration is sure to put much effort into crafting a bill (which may be far different than what was originally proposed) simply to secure a “win” for the President on this controversial measure. 

            The question looms:  Will Congress then have the political will to go from that hot-button issue to immediately tackle an issue as controversial as immigration?  Stay tuned.

WATER, ENERGY, POLLUTION AND TRASH

            The recent action by Arlington County, Virginia, to ban the purchase of single-serving water bottles by county government agencies in an effort to help reduce pollution and waste led to a very interesting article in the Washington Times.

            The article, written by Caroline Bourdeau, brought together many facts from various research groups and noted:

            “More than 30 billion plastic water bottles become garbage or litter each year in the United States, according to the Sierra Club…

            Most bottles are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which creates 100 times more toxic emissions than a glass bottle of the same size, according to the Berkeley Ecology Center…

            The 31.2 billion liters of bottled water sold in 2006 required almost 900,000 tons of plastic and created more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide…and the amount of energy needed to produce one water bottle is equal to filling a plastic bottle a quarter of the way with oil, according to the Pacific Institute… .”

            NPG applauds the Arlington County government on its actions.  When you realize that this problem hardly existed two decades ago it is shocking to see how one factor in our environment can have such huge, negative and costly consequences.

STOP CHAIN MIGRATION

            NPG is pleased to report that Congressman Phil Gingery has introduced H.R. 878 in the U.S. House of Representatives.  This legislation is designed to eliminate the entitlement of some adult relatives of immigrants to come to the U.S. – a form of chain migration.  Its passage would be a major win for all of us working to stop and eventually reverse population growth.  Current projections are that 90% of America’s future population growth will come from immigration and much of that will be fed by chain migration.  We urge our members to contact their U.S. Senators and Congressman to ask them to endorse this critical legislation.

AMERICA’S DETERIORATING INFRASTUCTURE

            In mid-July, Tom Donohue, President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, began his weekly letter to that organization’s members stating:  “Congress and the Obama administration have a number of big challenges before them.  But on one of the most important — investment in our nation’s highways, bridges and public transportation systems — there can be no delay.  Unless we make a serious financial commitment now, our infrastructure will continue to crumble around us, threatening our safety, mobility, and global competitiveness.”

            Donohue’s warnings are a prelude to the crisis that awaits America in a future where our population is growing at a rate that will bring another 30 to 40 million more people per decade to burden the core framework of an already crumbling system.  The costs to expand essential road, sewer, water and energy systems in order to accommodate 450 million people by 2050, rather than today’s 307 million, will be astronomical and our nation’s leaders continue to ignore the alarms going off all around them.  Sadly, Donohue is an advocate who shares the philosophy that we should grow the economy at any costs.  The Chamber of Commerce is definitely on the wrong side of the immigration issue, constantly pushing for increased levels of legal immigrants and a strong proponent of amnesty/citizenship.  But at least Donahue is aware of the harsh consequences if we follow their lead. 

CHANGE COMES SLOWLY

            The giant push in Congress for cap and trade legislation designed to overhaul our nation’s energy industry and provide vast new incentives for alternative energy sources is welcomed by all who understand the need to clean up our environment – and negate the current problems that are contributing to global warming.

            However according to www.Bloomberg.com, in mid-July, Jim Mulva, the CEO of Conoco-Phillips, America’s third-largest oil company, told the National Summit (an economic conference designed to help the U.S. focus on vital issues for the future) that “it may take a century for the nation to replace fossil fuels with alternative energy sources.”  

AMERICA’S POOR ENVIRONMENTAL RANKING

            In July when President Obama went to the G8 meeting in Europe he was confronted by a poll of global consumers who ranked the nations in relation to environmental responsibility.  The poll, conducted by Anholt-gfK Roper National Brands Index, polled 20 countries asking which out of a list of 50 nations they viewed as behaving responsibly on environmental issues.  Out of the G8 counties ranked, two – Canada and Germany – were in the top ten while the U.S. came in at number 49 (followed only by the United Arab Emirates).  The list of top scoring nation’s included 1) Switzerland; 2) Sweden; 3) Canada; 4) New Zealand; 5) Australia; 6) Finland; 7) Germany; 8) Norway; 9) Denmark; 10) Netherlands.

 

NPG NOTES

SEEKING A CONGRESSIONAL SPONSOR OF LEGISLATION TO CREATE A U.S. COMMISSION ON POPULATION GROWTH

            Setting the stage to get Congress to create a new U.S. Commission on Population Growth has been a priority for NPG in recent months and we are pleased to announce that letters have now gone to all U.S. Senators and a number of select Congressmen (members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee) asking them to take the lead in sponsoring this legislation in the 111th Congress.

            As noted in our letter, “The role of this Commission would be very simple and direct – to gather critical information and provide much needed direction to the White House, Congress and other national policymakers in order to thoroughly address the myriad issues affected by population growth.”

            Included in our packet of information sent to Capitol Hill were copies of Public Law 91-213, the original legislation that passed Congress in 1970 and created the Rockefeller Commission almost four decades ago.  We also included the Compilation of Recommendation from the original Rockefeller report.  Sadly, both the Public Law and the Recommendations have been ignored for almost forty years, and it is certainly time for Congress to address this issue again.

            Our focus on members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee here at the beginning of this effort is designed to hopefully obtain a Congressional sponsor that currently sits on the Committee that will consider the legislation.  Within a few weeks we will send letters to all other House members to build support for this long-overdue measure.

            In the coming weeks we will also be working to create a grassroots effort among our NPG members to have them directly contact their Senators and Congressmen to ask for their support.  Please be responsive to our request.

 

QUOTABLE

            The National Council of La Raza is the largest national Hispanic advocacy group in the United States.  NPG often disagrees with their positions, and the quote below outlines why.
 
            “The fact is that LaRaza is radical:  it supports efforts to weaken the central role of English as our national language; it opposes all serious attempts at border control; it opposes all serious attempts to keep illegal aliens out of the American work force; and it supports groups and individuals who are committed to the dismemberment of the United States of America!

            Yet the mainstream media, the Obama administration and most members of Congress treat LaRaza and its spokesmen as if they represented some benign Hispanic version of your local Kiwanis Club!”

                                        Former U.S. Congressman Tom Tancredo

           
            “We have seen numerous attempts at immigration reform over the last several years.  All have gone down in flames.  Yet, the politicians keep pushing for amnesty despite the overwhelming opposition from the American people.  Unemployment keeps going up.  Jobs are tight.  Yet Obama wants to make it harder for Americans to get those jobs.  He blasts companies for sending jobs overseas, but wants to make it easier for workers from across the border.  What kind of sense does that make?”

                                        Columnist Bobby Eberle

 

WHY THE NPG JOURNAL?

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            The NPG Journal (offered free to all recipients) exists to give more widespread distribution to timely news stories and articles related to population, immigration, environmental and political issues that currently affect our daily life – or have the potential to seriously impact our future. 

            We realize not all news stories covering population issues will reflect NPG policies and goals.  One of our main purposes in creating the NPG Journal is to expose these items to a wider audience, and to draw attention to the fact that so many articles speak to immigration and population issues but often fail to address the central cause of many problems – TOO MANY PEOPLE. 

            Ultimately, NPG would like to see writers at all levels make the obvious (to us, at least) connection between environmental and resource problems and the growing number of people in both the United States and the world.  Unfortunately, most do not.  To that end, we comment as necessary to help our readers see those links in hopes they will continue to speak out on what we deem to be the most pressing issue of our time – population size and growth and its negative impacts on our environment, resources and quality of life.

            NPG President Donald Mann offers his personal insight and commentary on individual stories, especially those that challenge, confirm and/or complement our NPG Research and Forum Papers.  The goal of the NPG Journal is to greatly expand NPG’s educational programs.  NPG’s activities continue to emphasize the need for Americans to speak up on population issues and keep our nation – especially our elected leaders on the national, state and local level – focused on taking action to help resolve today’s immigration crisis and work to halt, and eventually reverse America’s out-of-control population growth.

            We welcome your feedback to articles posted on the NPG Journal and urge you to forward to us the e-mail address of friends you think would like to receive a complimentary copy of the NPG Journal on a monthly basis.  Contact us at www.npg.org.  

 

ABOUT NPG:

            Negative Population Growth, Inc. (NPG) is a national nonprofit membership organization with over 30,000 members nationwide.  It was founded in 1972 to educate the American public and political leaders about the devastating effects of overpopulation on our environment, resources, and standard of living.  We believe that our nation is already vastly overpopulated in terms of the long-range carrying capacity of its resources and environment.