Your Kids Are Polluting the Earth

[FranG]

They are pumping too much CO2 into the atmosphere says our overlords. So don't go doing anything silly such as producing a life. Everybody has to contribute now says the overlords. Simply living is no longer enough. This is the tone of the article below. As sick as it sounds, I'm not that surprised at the rhetoric.

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Source: The London Times


Children 'bad for planet'By Sarah-Kate Templeton in London
May 07, 2007 12:00am
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HAVING large families should be frowned upon as an environmental misdemeanour in the same way as frequent long-haul flights, driving a big car and failing to reuse plastic bags, says a report to be published today by a green think tank.

The paper by the Optimum Population Trust will say that if couples had two children instead of three they could cut their family's carbon dioxide output by the equivalent of 620 return flights a year between London and New York.

Full coverage: Climate change in-depth

John Guillebaud, co-chairman of OPT and emeritus professor of family planning at University College London, said: "The effect on the planet of having one child less is an order of magnitude greater than all these other things we might do, such as switching off lights.

"The greatest thing anyone in Britain could do to help the future of the planet would be to have one less child."

In his latest comments, the academic says that when couples are planning a family they should be encouraged to think about the environmental consequences.

"The decision to have children should be seen as a very big one and one that should take the environment into account," he added.

Professor Guillebaud says that, as a general guideline, couples should produce no more than two offspring.

The world's population is expected to increase by 2.5 billion to 9.2 billion by 2050. Almost all the growth will take place in developing countries.

The population of developed nations is expected to remain unchanged and would have declined but for migration.

The British fertility rate is 1.7. The EU average is 1.5. Despite this, Professor Guillebaud says rich countries should be the most concerned about family size as their children have higher per capita carbon dioxide emissions.

The Sunday Times

[niffer]

*agrees*

The one child rule should be imposed on the entire earth. Also, if you DO have more that one child, the government gets to take it and make it run on a treadmill all day long to produce energy.

[cafe]

Unless countries are going to drop nationalism or euthanize the aged, the economic and social impact of low birthrates in developed countries and China is going to begin to hit pretty hard in my lifetime. There just aren't going to be enough young people to care for and support all the old people. There is speculation, as well, that there will be problems resulting from the uneven gender distribution in China.

[macjoven]

what does this remind me off... ah yes... Jonathan Swift - A Modest Proposal

[sundowning]

There doesn't seem to be much amiss with the article, unless you've personally crunched the numbers and found its claims to be false.

I'm not sure the point of the recommending that families have no more than two children, however, because as noted, the birthrate for the EU is already under two and will probably only decrease in time.

[Wolf]

The thing they keep missing is their last bit - migration from developing nations.

If they cut that off, the population in developed nations would drop, resulting in less emissions. Also, importing people from developing nations has been proven to increase the number of children said people produce, on top of the additional amount they produce once they relocate. Keeping people from moving into these first world nations will decrease the impact on the planet by far more than reducing the number of children born to natives of developed countries, because the natives are already producing less children naturally.

[FranG]

The global warming is a very absurd red herring. The real issue is about you being controlled. We shouldn't be discussing how much CO2 your granny is pumping in the air.

[meshou]

Protip: Tinfoil makes an attractive hat and keeps the CIA from beaming thoughts into your brain-neurons.

[Alienclock]

Originally Posted by FranG

The global warming is a very absurd red herring. The real issue is about you being controlled. We shouldn't be discussing how much CO2 your granny is pumping in the air.

Yes - but don't you realize it is for our own good!
Someone has to control us! If the government agrees with these findings then I think we should all really comply. Its the gov'ments, and colleges' business to make sure there that we are not doing what is ultimately harmful for us, and if they say kids are the cause of environmental damage then we should support the government, the colleges and added societal pressure. After all, what is the entire purpose of those institutions? They are there to make sure things run smoothly and we don't use our thoughtless and selfish animal nature to destroy each other and the planet. It sounds extremely reasonable to me. We need huge petrol companies and other companies to help run the world, to finance it, and to make it livable! So any pollution they create we effectively need because we need their products! We DON'T need extra kids! Two kids is just enough to keep the population stable instead of growing it! It is a reasonable request, after all its the least damaging to the environment and the current standard of living. Besides, people with too many kids often end up costing the government money, and why should anyone expect us to sacrifice our tax dollars and health and finally THE EARTH to support certain people and their desire to fill the world with extra snot nosed brats? Can they even afford to pay for their surplus kids college education? If not then they are doing the kids themselves a disservice, they are committing child abuse. - and society will suffer, we, as part of society, will suffer, and finally, the earth suffers and we all lose.

Take your tin foil hat and dial it up to smart! This is a serious subject! We need to get it together people, get with the program! Be a team player! Kids cause pollution.

Just like guns don't kill people, people kill people.
Products don't pollute, people pollute.

We need the factories and the products, we don't need extra people. I think people who have extra kids should be taxed extra. Someone has to try to pay back some of the cost that will be incurred by the extra pollution. Also, these kids are going to need government subsidies to go to college. Society is at risk, and societal peer pressure is needed! Spongebob opposite day is in effect in this post. We must make sure that those who choose to have surplus children KNOW that we do not approve!

[Wolf]

What about the extra cost of compulsory education? I pay more in taxes than people that are popping out kids, and a good portion of that is educating said unneeded children.