Written by: Beck
The Sierra Club and the Answerman have something in common: they're both opposed to open immigration.
Reason Online's blog Hit & Run has the story. Quoth Richard Lamm, aspiring Sierra Club Director:
The present American birthrate will lead to a stable population around 2050, but with today's level of immigration, our population will be approximately 500 million, on its way to a billion. Which makes sense to you? I have yet to meet an American who wants a billion neighbors -- or even 500 million. This is not as issue of immigrants, but of immigration. What possible public policy advantage would there be to an America of 500 million? Do we lack for people? Do we have too much open space, parkland and outdoor recreation spots? What will 500 million Americans mean to our environment? Are our schools unpopulated? Do we not have enough diversity? Will you live better lives if San Francisco and California double in size? These questions answer themselves. Can you imagine an America of a billion people that you would want to leave to your grandchildren?
Update: Answerman has a comment which deserves to be on the front page:
The Sierra Club is NOT opposed to immigration. Lamm and a couple others are, but there is a huge Sierra Club civil war going on between typical Leftist multicultural types and those who take the real implications of their environmental views seriously. Most of the Sierra Club leadership sides with the multiculturalists, and Lamm is likely to lose this one.