- At the current rate of legal and illegal immigration
as well as their birthrates, America expects 72 to 75 million added human
numbers by 2035. As our immigration dilemma accelerates, the picture clarifies
for every American. Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry in "Magnum Force"
said, "A man's got to know his limitations."
-
- The same stands for a family, a community, state and
country. Everything on this planet exists within limits. A glass of water
can only hold as much as it can hold. Only nine players can play on defense
on a baseball team on the field at one time. Basketball limits a team to
five players. A movie theater holds a limited amount of seating. A plane
with a 200 passenger limit must carry exactly that number and not one extra.
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- David Pimentel, Cornell University, January 4, 2007,
said in a speech "Like it or not, our natural resources, from land
to wood to oil to water, are finite and cannot sustain an infinite growth
without seriously impacting our quality of life. The time has come for
government planners and citizens alike to begin weighing the impacts of
unabated growth."
-
- Pimentel added, "More than 99 percent of all our
food comes from the land and less than one percent from the oceans and
other aquatic ecosystems. Each American consumes more than 2,200 lbs of
food per year, and to produce this food requires more than 3.6 acres of
agricultural land. Most U.S. cropland is now in production and little is
available for expanding food production."
-
- As noted earlier, each added American destroys 19.4 acres
of land to support him or her throughout life.
-
- "Along with land, an ample supply of freshwater
is essential for food and other human needs," Pimentel said. "Water
shortages already exist in many parts of the nation, especially in western
and southern states-and such shortages will become more acute if growth
continues unabated. Each American uses about 530,000 gallons of water per
year, with about 80 percent used just for food production. For example,
an acre of corn requires 500,000 gallons of water during the growing season."
-
- Pimentel added, "More than 90 percent of U.S. oil
reserves have already been pumped, and currently more than 63 percent of
U.S. oil has to be imported from other nations at a cost of more than $120
billion per year. Yearly, each American uses energy in the equivalent to
2,800 gallons of oil, with 500 gallons devoted just for food production.
-
- "Fossil energy is a non-renewable resource, which
means that Americans will require renewable energy sources in the future.
Depending on the geographic region, the renewable energy technologies with
the greatest potential are photo-voltaics, hydropower, wind energy, biomass
(thermal), solar thermal, and passive solar. Yet, even when all solar-based
technologies become operational, they are expected to provide only half
of the current U.S. energy consumption. These renewable energy technologies
will require about 17 percent of U.S. land area for their production-and
this is equal to current cropland area in use."
-
- The U.S. produces 4.5 billion gallons of ethanol per
year. This uses 18 percent of the U.S. corn crop but the yield represents
only one percent of U.S. petroleum use. If 100 percent of U.S. corn were
used, the estimated ethanol yield would provide only about six percent
of U.S. petroleum needs. As mentioned earlier, ethanol as a viable alternative
remains a fantasy.
-
- "The continued expansion is depleting fossil fuels,
it is reducing the numbers of native species of plants, animals, and microbes
throughout the U.S., many of which are vital to agricultural production
processes, such as pollination, and essential for a quality environment,"
Pimentel said. "Converting land to development and highways takes
away valuable cropland acreage. For example, in California 240,000 acres
of farmland was lost during last year to development."
-
- Pimentel added, "Highway construction also destroys
many thousands of acres of natural habitat for survival of native species.
Nearly four million miles of highways cover our land. The area being blacktopped
each year is 1.3 million acres (an area equal to the State of Delaware).
No species lives under the blacktop. Rapid, unabated population growth,
including legal and illegal immigration, stresses our school systems. Some
schools have three times the number of students that they can handle with
the available teachers and support staff. Overall this lowers our effectiveness
of the education system, which in turn reduces the economic viability and
competitiveness of the United States in the global market."
-
- Though we feel immune from our accelerating immigration
crisis, it manifests in every sector of our society. "Similarly, the
rapid expansion is crowding medical facilities in the United States,"
Pimentel said. "In the past two decades the number of outpatients
in hospitals has increased more than two fold, and continues to increase.
Some hospitals have been forced to close due to the pressure on their emergency
and outpatient facilities."
-
- In California, that number exceeds 86 hospitals and ER
wards that suffered closing via bankruptcy in the past five years. California
houses upwards of four million illegal aliens and over 10 million legal
immigrants.
-
- "Rapid expansion in the United States is challenging
our food production system, the economy in general, and the environment,"
Pimentel said. "As humans and their diverse activities expand, the
sustainability of the natural environment is threatened and diminished
for the future. We, as a nation, must come to grips with the harsh reality
that our land, energy, food and water are finite. The quality of life for
us, and especially for our children and future generations, is closely
linked to the number of people who live in our 50 states." Professor
David Pimentel, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University,
Ithaca, New York.
-
- Tell me, honestly that you're excited about adding 75
million immigrants to this country by 2035. Give me one good reason.
-
- Excerpt from: America on the Brink: The Next
Added 100 Million Americans. Copies available: 1 888 280 7715 and Kindle.
-
- _____
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-
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- Frosty Wooldridge has bicycled across six continents
- from the Arctic to the South Pole - as well as six times across the USA,
coast to coast and border to border. In 2005, he bicycled from the Arctic
Circle, Norway to Athens, Greece. He presents "The Coming Population
Crisis in America: and what you can do about it" to civic clubs, church
groups, high schools and colleges. He works to bring about sensible world
population balance at www.frostywooldridge.com He is the author
of: America on the Brink: The Next Added 100 Million Americans. Copies
available: 1 888 280 7715
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