The NPG Journal: Vol. 7, No. 6
- NPG
- August 13, 2014
- NPG Journal
- 0 Comments
COMMENTARY by NPG President Donald Mann
Rarely before in America’s history has the issue of immigration so dominated the headlines. Our nation is adjusting to a huge surge of people – especially children – coming across our southern border. They are being dispersed throughout the country, so much so that one headline recently noted: “Every state is a border state now…”
As Congress and the White House battle to decide on a solution for this crisis, the President is threatening to take further Executive Action – endorsing policies that could provide up to 5 million illegal aliens with work authorization and social security cards.
With our nation’s immigration system unraveling before our eyes, I think we can all agree that setting an “entirely open door” precedent is no way to resolve this issue. Our nation’s immigration policy has huge social, economic, and environmental consequences – especially for future generations. It is simply wrong for the White House to take unilateral action that would amount to a de facto rewrite of our nation’s current immigration laws, and formally change the status of as many as half of the illegal immigrants now in our country.
Even the national press, which has been consistently on the side of the open-border lobby, has reservations as to how far President Obama can singlehandedly act on immigration reform. A recent Washington Post editorial noted: “…Congress is a mess. But that doesn’t grant the president license to tear up our Constitution.”
It is at times like these that NPG’s strength lies in its core mission: to educate all Americans regarding the need to slow, halt, and eventually reverse U.S. population growth. We will use the power of our tens of thousands of members and supporters to broadcast our position via national campaigns. We must make clear to our policy makers – and fellow citizens – that immigration is the driving force behind 80% of America’s future population growth. It is vital that we set strict limits on how many people can enter our country.
While it may be noble – even humanitarian – to open our doors to those seeking a better life, America simply can’t afford to assume those responsibilities. The evidence of our existing problems surrounds us: our environment, our economy, our infrastructure, our social services, and our quality of life – all are straining under the burden of our existing population. And these problems only worsen as our population continues to grow. For the sake of our own children’s future, we must say “enough.”
Can the United States finally adopt responsible population and immigration policies?
That, of course, is NPG’s goal. Backed by our dedicated members, we are ready for the immigration reform challenges that are sure to dominate national debate in the coming months. Through it all, our aim will be to ensure that all citizens know the hard truth: the wrong decisions on this critical subject could trigger skyrocketing population numbers, and could irreversibly damage the country we all love.
NOTE: The long-term effects of irresponsible immigration policies are poignantly outlined in Lindsey Grant’s 2003 NPG Forum paper, It’s the Numbers, Stupid! Its message remains strong and insightful today.
AMERICA AND THE WHITE HOUSE DIFFER ON IMMIGRATION
An NBC/WallStreet Journal survey released on August 5 notes: “On another ‘satisfaction’ issue set, respondents gave negative marks to the U.S. government’s handling of a series of international crises. The most acute dissatisfaction was expressed over the border crisis, which featured a 53-point thumbs-down margin. A majority of Americans said they agreed that, ‘we do not have the resources to deal with the thousands of children who have entered the country illegally and they should be returned immediately.’”
NPG agrees with the majority of Americans polled – we cannot afford to continue our growth. For the future of our nation, we must act immediately to slow, halt, and eventually reverse U.S. population growth, including growth stemming from immigration.
10 CITIES RUNNING OUT OF WATER
At the end of July, 24/7 Wall St. listed the “10 Cities Running Out of Water.” As can be expected, with California in the midst of a statewide drought emergency, they are all in the Golden State. That is quite a change from just last year, when the urban areas with the most intense drought conditions were in Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico.
According to the article, “the U.S. Drought Monitor, a collaboration between academic and government organizations,” found that this year’s level of drought is “alarming.” 24/7 Wall Street quotes Mark Svoboda, climatologist at the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska, as describing California’s “multiyear dry spell as a ‘once-in-a-generation type of drought,’ and one of the three worst droughts in over a century.”
The story notes: “nearly all urban areas in California have made considerable water conservation efforts. These measures usually include mandatory limitations on water consumption, rationing, reallocation of water to the most essential crops, and distribution of guidelines for everyday water use…”
The top 10 California cities (all with populations over 75,000) that have been hardest-hit by drought in 2014 include:
- Bakersfield
- Hanford
- Salinas
- Gilroy–Morgan Hill
- Santa Maria
- Merced
- Santa Cruz
- Madera
- Visalia
- Fresno
A related story published by HuffPost Green on July 31 quoted the Drought Monitor Report as stating: “California is short more than one year’s worth of reservoir water, or 11.6 million acre-feet, for this time of year.”
As California and U.S. population numbers continue to climb – and climate change further intensifies drought – NPG calls for its members and supporters to get involved in the real solution to this serious water crisis. We must make our voices heard: population growth is a major factor in emissions leading to climate change, as well as water and other resource shortages. We must act now and adopt state and federal policies that work to slow, halt, and eventually reverse our population growth – before it is too late!
UGANDAN PRESIDENT: “LET’S SLOW DOWN”
With President Obama hosting the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit last week, the continent of Africa has been front and center in the news. However, with all of the focus on Washington, DC, an important move in recent weeks by Ugandan President Yoweri Musevani did not get as much attention as it deserves.
The Africa Report carried a story as to how Museveni, who has held power for almost three decades, has had a “change of heart” when it comes to family planning. His decision could have many positive benefits for his country.
In short, Museveni still believes that his nation’s population must grow – but not as fast and not as haphazardly. The Africa Report quotes him as stating: “Although I advocate for a big population, I have realized that a poor quality population cannot transform the country… It is imperative that parents have children they can afford to look after…”
According to the article, Uganda’s population has “more than doubled since Museveni came to power, from around 15.2 million in 1986 to an estimated 36.3 million in 2012.” The East African nation has a present growth rate of 3.1%, much higher than the 1.2% worldwide average.
NPG hopes that all nations around the world – including the U.S. – will take a similar position, adopting policies which will work to reduce their population numbers.
SOLAR ENERGY IN INDIA
Ecowatch ran a positive story last month that holds out hope for millions of people living in rural areas and surrounded by poverty. The core message is that the sun can unshackle them from a future of gloom and doom.
Authors Neha Khator and Ruhie Kumar of Greenpeace International focus on how the Dharnai village in Bihar “is now lit-up by a Greenpeace India solar-powered micro-grid” supplying homes, street lighting, and water pumps.
According to the article, Dharnai is the first village in India where all aspects of life are powered by solar energy. “The 100 kilowatt (kW) system powers the 450 homes of the 2,400 residents, 50 commercial operations, two schools, a training center and a health care facility. A battery backup ensures power around the clock.”
As can be expected, the benefits to the small city are immense: “Reliable electricity in the evening has improved educational opportunities for village children, and brought the safety of street lighting. A dependable power supply has boosted the local economy, and brought a welcome improvement to the social life of the villagers.”
Khator and Kumar note the valuable role Greenpeace India played in launching this project and bringing it to reality. They state: “Dharnai shows a way forward for thousands of other villages everywhere which have been left behind.” However, they also note that India has 80,000 more villages that need solar micro-grids.
NPG notes that the success of solar power in Dharnai opens the door to a better life for hundreds of millions of people throughout the world. Yet, despite all the efforts to bring 21st century technology to developing countries, it will be a losing battle as long as population growth continues. A responsible plan to reduce the population size of all nations is the best solution for a brighter future.
THE REWARDS OF GETTING TO AMERICA
Why leave your country, risk your life – and those of your children, and come north to the U.S.?
The present administration has done a good job of convincing people that the social chaos in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador is the prime factor for the new surge of illegal aliens into our country. However, those problems have existed for years without such a major migration.
Others claim that the major increase of new arrivals began within months of President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program on June 15, 2012.
Whatever the trigger that brought forth today’s crisis, the reality is that attraction to America has existed for quite a while.
Writing for Townhall.com, columnist Jeff Crouere recently summed up the “rewards” that await new arrivals:
“Almost everyone who makes the treacherous trek through Mexico toward our southern border knows there is a good chance they will be rewarded in America. They are well aware of the free healthcare, free tuition and cash assistance offered by federal and state governments. Since they are given de facto amnesty and gifts as well, who would not want to escape crime and poverty to come to the land of riches?
“The problem is that… We will not be able to afford the continuous stream of generous welfare payments.
“…The United States will not continue as a nation if we do not secure our borders. No other country in the world has such a porous border and provides so many benefits for those people who break their laws.
“In total, the citizens of this country are being played for fools by… politicians, bureaucrats and the illegal aliens taking advantage of a system that is costly, unsustainable and dangerous.”
Irresponsible policies continue to encourage immigrants to arrive here by any means necessary. Unfortunately, we continue to grant them amnesties and all the privileges of lawful citizenship – despite how they crossed our border. Until we change this present course, we will never effectively begin the crucial task of working to slow, halt, and reverse our nation’s population growth.
NPG NEWS
SPEAK UP AT LOCAL TOWN HALL MEETINGS
As U.S. Senators and Members of Congress spend the coming weeks at home in their states and districts, many will be holding local town hall meetings to get feedback from constituents on the critical issues of the day. Please do your best to attend a meeting in your area and raise your concerns about the current immigration crisis. NPG asks all of its members and supporters to speak up and make clear to your U.S. Senators and Representative – they cannot stand idly by and permit President Obama to use his executive powers and unilaterally dictate America’s immigration policies!
Throughout this battle, NPG has worked hard to keep the pressure on our elected leaders through member petitions and research papers delivered directly to their Capitol Hill offices. We also reach them through our national NPG press releases and powerful ads highlighting the impact of immigration on our nation’s population growth. However, it’s your personal voice that can have an even more critical impact.
Remember, NPG’s website is rich with facts and the information you need to back your position. Get involved in your community, and speak up today! Thank you.
QUOTES
“These are not somebody else’s kids. These are our kids.”
Vice President Biden
Note: NPG was saddened to read this quote by our nation’s Vice President. While we certainly have the responsibility to ensure the safety of the thousands of unaccompanied minors – we must only do so until they can be processed and deported back to their home countries as quickly as possible. The greater responsibility of the United States is to its own children, and its own citizens, to preserve our environment, our economy, and our quality of life for future generations. We can only do so by reducing our nation’s population to a much smaller, truly sustainable size – and this is impossible until we secure our nation’s borders and enforce existing immigration law.
“…no matter how much we do on behalf of the poor people of the world, we cannot ever conquer poverty. We can’t do it by foreign aid, and we certainly can’t do it by opening our borders and accepting anyone into our country that wishes to be here. That is a formula for wider poverty, as our own country devolves into Third World status, not a prescription for a brighter future.”
Frank Miele, Managing Editor
Daily Interlake (Kallispell, MT)
“As long as U.S. leaders game the immigration system, illegals will, too.”
Dr. Ben Carson, national columnist
Washington Times
“To save our society and our world, we need to enact some changes. The slowing and eventual reversal of the alarming population growth of the U.S. would only serve to ‘insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves.’ Even though our esteemed founding fathers may not have foreseen this particular problem when they spoke those words, they ring as true in this issue of overpopulation as they have in every other issue, and are as valuable to our country now as they were the day they were written in our Constitution.”
Hope Maddox – Marquette University (Milwaukee, WI)
NPG 2014 Essay Scholarship Contest, Grand Prize Winner
WHY THE NPG JOURNAL?
***********************************************
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 many articles speak to immigration and population issues yet fail to address the central cause of many problems: U.S. overpopulation.
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.
NPG President Donald Mann offers his personal insight and commentary on individual stories, especially those that challenge, confirm and/or complement our NPG Forum papers and research. The goal of the NPG Journal is to greatly expand NPG’s educational mission. 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 levels – focused on taking action to help resolve today’s immigration crisis and work to slow, halt, and eventually reverse America’s population growth.
We welcome your feedback to articles posted on the NPG Journal, and urge you to forward to us the e-mail addresses of friends you think would like to receive a complimentary copy of the NPG Journal on a monthly basis. Contact us at NPG@NPG.org.
ABOUT NPG
Negative Population Growth, Inc. (NPG) is a national nonprofit membership organization with over 30,000 members. It was founded in 1972 to educate the American public and political leaders regarding 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.
