COMMENTARY: by NPG President Donald Mann

     As I watched President Obama present his State of the Union address last week, I was anticipating that he would put forth a major argument in favor of the amnesty/ citizenship legislation that has been gathering steam on Capitol Hill in recent weeks.  However, when he finally got to the subject he made a one-sentence, passionless comment:

“[We] should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system –  to secure our borders and enforce our laws, and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation.”

          I’m not sure what to read into his brushing this issue off so quickly.  Was it simply a line tossed out to placate the open-borders lobby to let them know he is still on board with their agenda?  Was he trying to put some political distance between himself and this volatile issue at a time when he is being buffeted by other political firestorms?  Was he signaling that his White House will take no leadership role on this issue and let it first play out in Congress?  I presume we will get the answers to these questions in the coming weeks.  What is notable in his statement however are the words “everyone who plays by the rules.”  By not using the past tense he continues to give hope for amnesty and citizenship to the illegal immigrants who broke the law to get into our country. 
     Whatever the President’s stance, it is becoming more and more evident that Congress is ready to move forward with legislation aimed at making amnesty and citizenship for 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants a reality and we must brace for the fight which may begin as early as next month.
     The immigration issue aside, listening to our President run through the litany of all of our nation’s current problems and the difficulties of finding solutions to them only underscores the critical need to get our nation’s population under control.  Whether we are talking about jobs, health care, energy, transportation or even national security, the challenge of dealing with these major issues with our U.S. population at 308 million will seem trivial in relation to what’s to come when a projected 450 million people vie for our limited resources by mid-century – just 40 years from now.  Never has it been more important for us to halt and reverse America’s population growth.  Our nation’s future prosperity and quality of life demand action.  Each year that we don’t address the population problem, it will only become worse.  As a nation (and world) we are in desperate need of new ways of dealing with this impending crisis.
     There comes a time when on issues of true national importance our leaders must put the public interest ahead of political interests.  That time is now! 
     As we begin this important election year it is crucial that all of us concerned about population issues continue to press our incumbent political leaders and their challengers on this vital issue.  The fact that this is a Census year provides a perfect platform to raise questions on this topic.  I urge you to contact your elected officials by mail or fax.  Show up in person at their local offices.  Bring up population growth at town hall meetings and write letters to the editor of your local newspaper.  Get active in the campaigns of those who understand this crisis and share our goals.  If you can, please keep NPG posted on your actions and the responses you receive.  If we are going to make progress in this battle we need more allies who are in the position to do something about it.

 

SEEDING THE CLOUDS

     Americans have become quite used to reading about climate change but the short story that appeared in Parade Magazine recently gave it a new twist.  The article focused on efforts by a number of states, including California, Nevada and Utah, to “coax water from the sky through a process known as cloud-seeding.” 
     Many of us have heard about this process for decades where as the story relates “chemicals like silver iodide are heated so they rise through the atmosphere and interact with the water in clouds to produce precipitation.” 
     Parade notes that “Utah spends $400,000 annually to seed clouds, and Nevada will spend $900,000 over the next three years.  California’s efforts could cost up to $177 million over 25 years.”  That makes for a sizeable investment at a time when state budgets are tight.
     The problem is that “a 2003 report from the National Research Council (NRC) found no conclusive evidence that the process is effective.  The report recommended a comprehensive study—which has not been done.  In fact, federal funding for weather modification research has declined from $20 million in the 1970s to less than $500,000 today.”
     NPG notes that the three states cited above have all ranked among those with the fastest-growing populations in recent years but have taken few if any steps to rein in their population growth.  There is little question that as their populations increase by millions in the future – and compete for the limited amount of water available – their desperation for solutions will only grow.  The question is:  Is the answer in the sky?

 

U.S. CENSUS STARTS AD CAMPAIGN

     A few weeks ago the U.S. Census Bureau started to air a $133 million ad campaign aimed at approximately 308 million people.  The goal is to get as many of them as possible to mail back the questionnaire that will arrive in their mailbox around mid-March.  According to a Washington Post article by Carol Morello, “the paid advertising is part of a $340 million campaign to promote the once-a-decade count.”  The push to get people involved will show up everywhere in the coming weeks.  TV ads (including a costly spot during the Super Bowl), radio and print advertising will be supplemented by efforts to get schoolchildren involved in pushing their parents to participate.  The Post notes that ads in 28 languages are aimed at saving taxpayers money by reducing the need for temporary workers to survey people who don’t return the forms.

 

POPULATION AND IMMIGRATION NEWS

HAITI:  WHERE DOES COMPASSION END?

     America has always been a big-hearted country when it comes time to help those in need.  That fact is all the more evident in the response of the American people to the recent earthquakes in Haiti.  While our initial efforts to help have been extraordinary and have dominated the daily headlines for the past few weeks, the long-term assistance the U.S. extends to this impoverished nation will go on for years.
     Part of the initial reaction from our Department of Homeland Security was to extend Temporary Protected Status to Haitians presently in our country.  They estimated that 100,000 to 200,000 people including illegal immigrants, tourists, students and guest workers would not have to go home for now.  It is important that these individuals return to their country in the not-too-distant future.  We should not permit them permanent residence in our nation only to add to our population and social woes.
     The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) recently released some basic socio-demographic statistics that focus on the present Haitian community in the U.S.:

• The last Census Bureau data (2008) indicates there are 546,000 Haitian immigrants in the U.S.  That is up from 408,000 in 2000;
• In 2000, the INS estimated there were 76,000 illegal Haitian immigrants in the country – CIS estimated the current number to be 75,000 to 125,000;
• The top states of Haitian immigrant settlement are FL, NY, NJ, MA, GA and MD;
• Between 2000 and 2008, 183,188 Haitians were given green cards (permanent residence);
• Of Haitian immigrants (ages 25 to 65) 22 percent have not graduated from high school and 18 percent have a college degree.  This compared to 9 percent and 30 percent, respectively, for native-born Americans;
• The share of Haitian immigrants and their young children living in poverty is 20 percent.  For native-born Americans it is 11.6 percent;
• Of households headed by Haitian immigrants 46 percent use at least one major welfare program.  For households headed by native-born Americans it is 20 percent.

Background information for the above data is available at www.cis.org

 

WILL SECRETARY SALAZAR MAKE THE FINAL DECISION?

     No matter where you live in America it is almost impossible not to be aware of the contentious fight that has been raging for nine years over a proposed wind farm off the Massachusetts coast.
     “Cape Wind” as it is called has been fought by local homeowners who contend that the 130 turbines (which will be located quite a distance offshore) will scar their views of Nantucket Sound.  Developers who have an interest in preserving these pristine views joined in the opposition.  Then along came two North American Indian tribes who hold that the turbines will “interfere with their spiritual greeting of the sunrise.”
     All of it has gotten to be too much.  Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has given a March 1st deadline for the contending parties – including the State of Massachusetts which supports the project – to resolve their bickering and find a solution.  If they can’t, he will make the final decision as to whether or not this project gets a green light.
     NPG salutes Secretary Salazar’s determination to resolve this issue.  As our nation must grapple with the realities of finding alternative energy sources to feed its growing need for power, we cannot let projects be mired down in confrontational fighting that lasts such a long time.

 

WRONG-HEADED THINKING

     The new year was only days old when the powerful editorial page of The New York Times weighed in with another attack on those of us who are not ready to have their version of immigration “reform” – complete with amnesty/citizen provisions – rammed down our throats. 
     The editorial that appeared January 6th should brace all of us for the arguments that will be repeated over and over again by the open-border advocates during Congressional debate.  It once again categorizes millions of illegal aliens as “victims” who are caught in a political chess game. An excerpt from the editorial states:

“Opponents will try their best to scuttle reform by claiming to be open to compromise while they insist on prohibitive fees, penalties and requirements that turn the path into a fiction — not a wait of months but of decades or never.  That is not reform.  And it won’t solve the problem.

After years of tightening the screws, the system is hopelessly frozen.  Those who want to fix it will have to shut out the choruses of no-amnestys and over-my-dead-bodys, sidestep the false arguments and press into the headwinds while holding firm to the core of the better solution.  To legalize the undocumented, collect their unpaid taxes, free them to earn more and spend more, to get the immigrant escalator to the middle class moving again.  The country needs it; the economy needs it; the immigrants need and deserve it.”

          NPG wants to make clear to the editorial board of The New York Times that we, and most of our allied organizations that oppose amnesty/citizenship, are not interested in permitting those who broke the laws of our land to pay new “prohibitive fees” to buy American citizenship.  In addition, the “immigrant escalator to the middle class” is working just fine, even in these difficult economic times, for those legal immigrants who played by the rules to enter our country.
     The Times was right in describing the 2007 immigration fight as an “ugly battle.”  The evidence is clear that the national media is once again going to paint all of us who take the lead in working to stop amnesty/citizenship as the “bad guys.”  We must be ready to make clear that we, not they, represent the views of the majority of the American people when it comes to this issue.

 

NPG NOTES

NPG 2010 SCHOLARSHIP

     Do you know a college student who has a creative mind and who is interested in competing for one of six scholarships to create new ad copy for NPG?  If so, have them check out our 2010 Scholarship Contest at www.npg.org.  After several years of asking students to write essays on population growth, and last year challenging them to make the case to their Congressman on why America needs a U.S. Commission on Population Growth, we are opening the door to a new aspect of student talent this year.
     In a nutshell, students are being asked to craft a print ad that would persuade the general public to support programs that are designed to slow, halt and eventually reverse population growth.  Ads must be at least 100 words but no more than 200.  Text should be original, entirely the student’s work.  Key issues to be addressed are population size and growth, the birth rate, immigration (legal and illegal), amnesty programs, environmental destruction, natural resource depletion, birth-right citizenship, overcrowded cities and schools, or other issues related to the efforts of Negative Population Growth.
     Six final prizes will be awarded.  Entries are due by April 23, 2010 and scholarship winners will be announced by July 16, 2010.  Winning ads will appear in at least one national publication.  Please go to our website at www.npg.org to review the complete set of rules for this contest.

 

NPG POSTCARDS PUTTING THE PRESSURE ON CONGRESS

     It might not seem like much to mail a postcard to your Senators and Congressman to sponsor or endorse our push for creating a U.S. Commission on Population Growth but politics is about numbers, and a barrage of postcards arriving in their Capitol Hill office from concerned constituents definitely gets attention.
     That is why it is important that we continue to make it easy to put more and more NPG members in contact with their elected officials. 
     This month we will follow through with a third stage of targeting certain state Congressional delegations and provide members in additional states (we have hit twelve states thus far).  With pre-addressed and pre-stamped postcards, NPG is requesting members to sign and drop their postcards immediately into the mail to help us build a grassroots campaign and generate some interest on this issue on Capitol Hill.  NPG members were also asked to return a special contribution, if possible, to help fund this project.
     In January we received confirmation postcards from the majority of members that they followed through on this request and we salute all who participated.  In addition, members provided contributions that will enable us to expand this effort to reach members in even more states.  If you receive an NPG postcard packet in the mail, please act on it immediately.  Getting Congress to act on an important issue is a very challenging task.  But they do listen to their constituents and hopefully in the coming months we will find a number of legislators who will take up our cause.
     Please note:  If you have already received your postcard mailing and sent them on to your Senators and Congressman we are very interested in getting a copy of the response you receive from them.  Please fax it to 703-370-9514 or put a duplicate in the mail to NPG, 2861 Duke St. #36, Alexandria, VA 22314.  Thank you.

DEAR EDUCATOR:

     The ads have already started to air on radio and TV stations across the land reminding Americans that 2010 is a year when the government is constitutionally mandated to carry out the U.S. Census.  It is a monumental task and will cost billions of dollars.
     Taking advantage of this time when we take a “demographic picture” of our nation, NPG has contacted nearly 10,000 teachers across the land reminding them that the Census presents a terrific teaching opportunity to get their students involved in a discussion about population and its impact on their lives.
     The letter which went to these educators was accompanied by a six-panel brochure titled “Today’s Problems are Tomorrow’s Crises!” which presented a short summary of how population growth and America’s critical issues are inseparable.  Short summaries about energy shortages, destruction of natural habitat, quality of life/urban sprawl, global warming, immigration, loss of valuable farmland, limited water supplies, and the need to create a U.S. Commission on Population Policy reinforced the critical need to address out-of-control population growth before it is too late.
     Teachers were encouraged to fill out and return a “Free Information Request Sheet” where they could select a packet of NPG Forum Papers to better acquaint themselves with specific population issues and order our new Student Fact Sheet which provides an easy-to-grasp format for young people to best understand how population growth will have huge consequences in so many aspects of their lives.  In addition they can request our NPG Population Poster which we created two years ago for use in America’s classrooms.
     We are hoping for a positive response to this letter from teachers across America who will see the benefit of using the approaching U.S. Census and the annual Earth Day celebration to make population issues – and solutions – a part of their teaching curriculum.

           
QUOTES

     “The priority that people give to pollution and environmental concerns and a whole host of other issues is down because of the economy and because of the focus on other things…When the focus is on other things, people forget and see these issues as less grave.”

                           Andrew Kohut
                           Director
                           Pew Research Center

     “The world once again missed an opportunity to avert disaster – and the delay is likely to have deadly consequences.  In recent years, we have moved from talking about the possibility of climate change to watching it unfold before our eyes.  The Arctic is melting, wildfires are turning into infernos, warm-weather insects are devouring forests, droughts are getting longer and more lethal.  And the more we learn about climate change, the more it becomes apparent how enormous the risks are.”

                           Jeff Goodell
                           “As the World Burns”
                           Rolling Stone Magazine

     “Yes, climate change is a concern for Beijing, but more immediately China’s leaders know that their country is in the midst of the biggest migration of people from the countryside to urban centers in the history of mankind.  This is creating a surge in energy demand, which China is determined to meet with cleaner, homegrown sources so that its future economy will be less vulnerable to supply shocks and so it doesn’t pollute itself to death.”

                           Thomas Friedman
                           N.Y. Times columnist

     “I am the only law enforcement official in this state enforcing all the laws that our federal and state legislatures put in place to combat illegal immigration and human smuggling.  Liberal media from around the country has done everything in their power to unite the open-border amnesty coalitions against me.  Every effort has been made to silence my words and actions; from the national media, open-border activist coalitions and yes, even our own city, county, state and federal government.  Big business lobbyists that want to hire cheap labor while the taxpayers of the United States pick up the tab (for education, medical and social services) have been greedy too long.”

                           Sheriff Joe Arpaio
                           Maricopa County, Arizona
                           Fundraising letter

 

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.

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