I picked up this months Mother Earth News and found an intensive article by Al Gore on the global warning issue. Right off, he states the issue is real, it is serious and it is the result of:
*population explosion
*technical revolution
*and the willingness to ignore how our actions affect the future
Ok. Al. I'm on board about points 2 and 3. It just makes sense that with the industrial revolution we brought incredable environmental toxins into play. In fact, to heck with ride sharing. If we shut down the manufacturing plants that run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and scaled them back to normal 8 hour shifts, we could throw all other attempts to save the planet out. But we don't want to hear that. We'd rather manufacture other means of saving the planet and lie to ourselves that we are making an impact, and perhapes we are. But not the impact we could make if we shut down those facilities. We are too money hungry to even think about cutting our production down. If it negatively influences our money, it is not an answer. I am just asking that you think about it....ride sharing and using one vehicle instead of 2 or 3, or shutting down a manufacturing plant for 16 hours a day. Hmmm. Which would impact the environment more??? Yes, Al. We don't want to admit that our manufacturing facilities are hurting our air, so we put more focus on automobiles and aerasol cans than the real culprits.
This is where my warm, fuzzy feeling in regards to your article ends. I do not, nor ever will, believe we have a population problem. Ok. Here's the argument. We have some 6.5 billion people in the earth now. (If the figures quoted by Al in his presentation are current and accurate) How is there a population overgrowth when the baby boomers are entering retirement and the current number of children per woman is 1.3? We aren't even replacing ourselves. The animals will have us outnumbered in 50 years if we keep this up. American women used to have 5-10 children per family before the industrialized revolution and it never negatively impacted the envirnment. Don't you think envirenmental toxins are more to blame than people? In developed countries, where supply and demand is met, you will see a direct correlation to envirnmental toxins than underdeveloped countries that still have several children per family.
The whole population overgrowth issue is a platform for the liberally-democratic minded. It has been the liberals that brought legalized abortions and birth control to the forefront of womens issues. Women never "realized" they had issues with conraception until the liberal started announcing we had issues. And now, contraception is being viewed as a "planet friendly" option. "Save the planet" they cry. "Do your part. Control the population." Don't believe me?
Claire McCaskill is a Democrat from Missouri running for US Senate. Among the things she will do if elected is to "make sure contraception remains affordable and accessible". Lois Murphy, a Democrat from Pennsylvania running for US House said "I want to make sure the government gives woman the full range of reproductive health care choices. We can actually reduce the need for abortions when women have more options for preventing pregnancy." (Just a side note on how birth control pills work. They don't prevent pregnancy, they create a hormonally hostile environment so that if a pregnancy does occur, the body does not hormonally support it and instead, expels it. It doesn't prevent pergnancy-it prevents it from progressing. Google it.) It seems to be a consistant drum the Dems have beat since the 60's. Birth control, abortion rights, reproductive rights.
I sincerely wish those that believe we have an overpopulation problem prove it. It is not based on facts. We are preventing more pregnancies than ever. We are aborting more than ever. It is not an argument. If you want to do something environmentally friendly, pick up trash. Plant trees. Walk as much as possible. Call your congressman and demand that the manufacturing plants scale back on their production hours. But do not try to limit my family size by saying I will be saving the planet.
(All information on the Democratic candidates came from the November issue of Glamour. Al Gores's new book "An Inconvenient Truth" is out in bookstores now)
