Deputy Director’s Corner
- Tracy Henke
- March 10, 2016
- NPG
- 0 Comments
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Deputy Director’s Corner
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A dedicated NPG member recently sent me an interesting article from Forbes. The article discusses this year’s annual letter from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In his portion of the letter, Bill Gates comments extensively on a new mathematical formula – one he developed on his own. Gates designed it to help the world create an “energy miracle” that could stop climate change in its tracks. His equation is: P x S x E x C = CO2 (Carbon Dioxide output) According to Gates: P = “the world’s population;” S = “the services used by each person;” E = “the energy needed to provide each of those services;” C = “the carbon dioxide produced by that energy;” and CO2 = “the amount of carbon dioxide we put in the atmosphere.” Gates explains: “if we want to get to zero CO2, then we need to get at least one of the four factors on the left to zero.” Gates then highlights: “The world’s population (P) is currently 7 billion and is expected to increase to 9 billion by 2050. No chance it’ll be zero. (If it is we won’t have climate change but something else bad must have happened!) So even Bill Gates – global billionaire and technological genius – recognizes what NPG has long held: population is a critical factor in climate change. Unfortunately, his letter stops shy of the obvious next step towards a solution – that we must act NOW to reverse our growth, before the “population” part of the equation is solved by nature itself… which would certainly be “something bad” happening! Fortunately, many NPG publications highlight the link between population growth and the energy crisis – and our experts have provided simple, realistic, and voluntary steps each nation can take to move towards a smaller, truly sustainable population. (Click here to review these works, absolutely FREE OF CHARGE.) Soon after reading the Gates’ Foundation letter, I ran across a recent Press Release from Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) – who is Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest. The Release highlights the Subcommittee’s recent findings that the U.S. “issues more green cards per month “than the entire state of South Carolina “issues High School diplomas in a year.” In the U.S., annual immigration rates are particularly relevant in the climate change picture (see Ed Rubenstein’s NPG Forum paper Immigration Drives U.S. Population Growth). Studies have shown that immigrants in the U.S. produce four times more CO2 than they would have in their countries of origin. |
And the Census Bureau predicts that immigration will soon surpass births to become the primary driver of U.S. population growth.
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But the Subcommittee report targets another consequence of today’s mass immigration levels – the economic cost of high immigration: “Each year, the United States grants Lawful Permanent Resident [LPR] Status – a ‘green card’ – to an average of approximately 1 million aliens. …That means, under current law… “…approximately 83,333 new aliens are placed on a pathway to citizenship, provided work authorization, and granted access to federal and state benefits every month.” The report goes on to highlight: “By contrast, an estimated 45,137 students in South Carolina graduated high school in 2014. Not only will these… young men and women compete against these new [LPRs] for jobs and spots in universities… but they will also face competition from the approximately 700,000 guest workers… or the roughly 500,000 foreign students… each year.” The Press Release concludes with what NPG has long held: “By a 3:1 margin, voters in all parties say the level of immigration should be reduced – not increased. Absent changes in law, the annual rate of immigration, the total level of immigration, and the percentage of the country that is foreign-born will continue surging every single year.” A 2014 study by CIS found that “since 2000 all of the net gain in the number of working-age (16 to 65) people holding a job has gone to immigrants (legal and illegal).” And the Senate Subcommittee Press Release echoes this finding: “after five decades of unprecedented immigration, a record number of Americans are not working. …Median household incomes today are $4,000 less than they were fifteen years ago.” All of these reports only serve to reinforce what NPG has demonstrated for decades: our nation’s mass immigration levels do not serve the best interest of Americans. And if you haven’t already, I encourage you to review NPG’s latest Forum paper by expert economist Ed Rubenstein, The Negative Economic Impact of Immigration on American Workers. With so much in the headlines related to NPG’s mission, we cannot stop in our critical battle. We MUST take immediate action to slow, halt, and reverse immigration-driven population growth. With YOUR help, we can continue to wage – and win – the war for our grandchildren’s future! |
Tracy Henke served as Deputy Director of NPG from 2012 to 2017, contributing to the structure and development of NPG’s publications programs. Acting as NPG’s principal editor and a contributing author – as well as a regular contact for the public and media, Tracy extensively researched U.S. population issues and worked to establish significant grassroots support for the NPG mission. She holds a degree in Leadership & Social Change from Virginia Tech, with a professional background in non-profit and program management.
