- "Me thinks humans love to fool themselves when faced
with reality," a leprechaun said as he considered the folly of humanity.
"They think a problem will go away by ignoring it, and when it doesn't,
they ponder their stupidity after the fact."
- ·
- · The
recent Gulf Oil spill should not have happened! The Valdez Oil Spill could
easily been prevented. The 17,000 alcohol related driving deaths could
be prevented in the USA annually! America's many problems related to overpopulation
could be solved, but for the fact that Congress and President Barack Obama
choose to avoid, evade, ignore and suppress the root cause.
- ·
- · Last
year, Obama charged off to Denmark to denounce Global Warming or Climate
Change or Climate Destabilization-however you term it! He brought a bag
of marbles and left with two hands of cotton candy. At no time did he
or any world leader address human overpopulation.
- ·
- · In
a cogent piece, Marilyn Hempel, Editor at www.PopulationPress.org carried
a compelling piece by the imminent writer Ellen Goodman as she discussed
the most evaded issue of our era.
- ·
- · Goodman
wrote in the Boston Globe, "The 'Human' Factor is Missing in Climate
Talks", December 11, 2009, during the Climate Change fiasco-she addressed
the obvious.
- ·
- · "Yes,
there is something more foreign than being offered kippered herring for
your breakfast," Goodman said. "It's being offered PopOffsets
for your conscience. After seven hours and 3,325 miles, I arrive here,
open the paper, and discover that a British think tank, Optimum Population
Trust, is ready to make me a deal. As a good environmentalist, I can offset
the 1.1 tons of carbon emissions spewed into the atmosphere from my trans-Atlantic
flight by donating $7 to a family planning program.
-
- "Well, I am not a fan of carbon offsets, which have
been described as a get-out-of-jail-free card. But at least these think-tankers
are making a connection between population growth and climate change. That's
more than the scientists are doing at the conference in Copenhagen.
-
- "The think-tankers may be tone deaf, but the Copenhageners
seem to be altogether deaf. The subjects under discussion range from clean
energy technology and protecting forests, to carbon credits and enforcing
a treaty. Countries are wrangling over everything about human-induced climate
change except the increasing number of humans inducing it."
- ·
- · LET'S
AVOID ANYTHING DEALING WITH HUMAN OVERPOPULATION
-
- "An odd fatalism about population growth has settled
in since 2007, when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change declared
the subject virtually untouchable," said Goodman. "The "scope
and legitimacy of population control,'' they warned, were still, "Subject
to ongoing debate.''
-
- "One piece of the controversy is, of course, amply
illustrated by the implication that some countries can maintain their high
carbon diets by reducing births in other countries," said Goodman.
- · "As
Robert Engelman, co-author of a recent United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
report, said, "There's a perception that wealthy countries with lower
fertility rates are casting aspersions on poor countries with high fertility
rates, blaming them for having too many children.''
-
- "The link between population growth and the environment
is also complicated by the fact that the little people in my American family
have larger carbon footprints than little people in developing countries,"
said Goodman. "Most importantly, there is the lingering notion-imprinted
by China's repressive one-child policy-that family planning is "population
control'' imposed by governments against the rights and wishes of families.
-
- "But ever since the 1994 UN conference on population,
international family planning policy has been focused on enabling women
and men to make their own decisions. We've learned about the direct relationship
between education and economic opportunities for women and smaller, later,
healthier families."
- ·
- · As
you can see, Goodman gets down and dirty; she hits the nitty-gritty, she
faces the leprechaun-and spits in his face. I admire that! But when will
she spit into the politicians' faces? When will the US public commence
spitting, raging, ranting and bashing the magnificent ineptitude of the
president and U.S. Congress? You can at www.NumbersUSA.com !
- ·
- · "It
turns out that every society that offers a range of contraceptive options
and information to women has a fertility rate of two children or fewer-and
this includes developing countries such as Iran and Thailand," said
Goodman. "Today the average size of a family has shrunk from five
children to two and a half. But there are still hundreds of millions of
married women who don't have access to services or information."
-
- Kathleen Mogelgaard, who works on population and climate
change for Population Action International, believes, "The beautiful
thing about making this linkage is that so much of this (environmental
debate) is about telling people what they cannot do. They cannot cut down
forests or consume fossil fuels. This is one way to address the challenge
by giving them what they want.''
- ·
- · In
the final analysis, Mother Nature will not give humans what they want,
but it will give them a kick in their rear-ends with the four horsemen:
famine, war, disease and pestilence. Come on! Birth control and family
planning prove much nicer, saner, rational, logical and graceful!
-
- "There are nearly 7 billion people in the world
today," said Goodman. "Scientists project 9.5 billion people
by 2050. In fact, there could be 8.5 billion or 10.5 billion. Depending
on what we do."
-
- · As
the UNFPA's Thoraya Obaid said, "There is no investment in development
that costs so little and brings benefits that are so far-reaching and enormous.''
-
- But Engelman replied, "Our impact on the Earth is
overwhelming. To say it has nothing do with our numbers is laughable.''
-
- Goodman gets down to brass tacks, "In Copenhagen,
talk is centered on technological fixes and political trade-offs. Responses
are crafted by scientists, governments, meteorologists, finance experts.
The silence on population is rooted in the belief that the human problem
is the most intractable. But maybe it isn't. What if we can lighten the
burden on the planet while widening the chances for women? That's my kind
of offset."
-
- Source: The Boston Globe, December 11, 2009. Reprinted
with permission.
- http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/articles/2009/12/11/the_
human_factor_is_missing_in_copenhagen/Ellen Goodman's e-mail address is
ellengoodman1 [AT SYMBOL] me.com
-
-
-
- Contact Marilyn Hempel at www.PopulationPress.org or info@populationpress.org .
By snail mail: Blue Planet United, POB 7918 Redlands, CA 92375; Join her
organization! You will be glad you did!
-
- ___________________
-
- 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 atwww.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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