I have to
wonder how dramatically life in America will be changed if all of the proposals
by the Democratic presidential candidates at CNN’s global warming forum this
week were implemented.
My God, they
want to ban everything. The list seems endless and it hits Southern Illinois
especially hard. Proposals would ban drinking straws, red meat, incandescent
light bulbs, gas-powered cars, nuclear power, off-shore drilling, natural gas
exports, coal power plants….One candidate even suggested we do a better job of
exporting abortion to the third world.
No, I’m not
kidding. In Bernie Sander’s mind, less people means less production of carbon.
We should give foreign aid to allow women, in less progressive countries, the
ability to terminate their pregnancies. Less mouths to feed. Less global
warming.
If you live
here, you get your power from a coal-fired plant. And, of course, we have
several coal mines in this region, all supporting jobs and families. If
fracking was allowed here, our local economy would surge. But Democrats in
Springfield have put the kibosh to that.
I’d suppose
the families that depend on coal and oil production in our region..or farmers
with cattle… probably have a passion to not see the Democrat agenda be
implemented.
The most
interesting question asked by CNN was if each candidate supported a
“carbon-free” America. All of them said yes.
As a
carbon-based life-form, I’m worried.
Yes, I too fear Diabolical Bernie's Malthusian plan to force us to assimilate with the Borg or face the extinction of all carbon-based life. I hear he even enlisted Skynet and the Terminators.
ReplyDeleteBut you don't have to worry about the worst of it. The Skynet wars won't take place for another 10 years.
On a more serious note, pushing for a full range of birth control options for people doesn't just include abortions, which is what you seem to be implying. Did you know, for example, that the Mexico City Agreement cuts all kinds of foreign health aid if an NGO even suggests abortion as an option? That includes HIV and malaria prevention programs. It's such a pro-life position to deny funding for disease prevention because they informed people about the whole range of birth control! It isn't just about using American funds for birth control. Even if NGOs maintain separate accounts so that American funds aren't used, any money given to the organization that could be used bars it from receiving any money.
As for what the results have been implementing the program, it turns out there have been studies:
"A 2011 quantitative analysis by Bendavid, et. al, found a strong association between the Mexico City Policy and abortion rates in sub-Saharan Africa. This study was recently updated to include several more years of data, again identifying a strong association. Specifically, the updated study found that during periods when the policy was in place, abortion rates rose by 40% in countries with high exposure to the Mexico City Policy compared to those with low exposure, while the use of modern contraceptives declined by 14% and pregnancies increased by 12% in high exposure compared to low exposure countries. In other words, it found patterns that “strengthen the case for the role played by the policy” in “a substantial increase in abortions across sub-Saharan Africa among women affected by the U.S. Mexico City Policy … [and] a corresponding decline in the use of modern contraception and increase in pregnancies,” likely because foreign NGOs that declined U.S. funding as a result of the Mexico City Policy – often key providers of women’s health services in these areas – had fewer resources to support family planning services, particularly contraceptives."
It looks like when you cut off all funding, abortions go up because all the options aren't available. So paradoxically, an agreement meant to limit abortions actually increases both abortion and unwanted pregnancies, which is similar to the trend you see in areas of the US where comprehensive sex education and family planning access are denied.
Oh, the sacred plastic straw. Before we had the plastic straw, we had the paper straw. And before that, guess what, we just placed our lips on the glass and drank from it. Coal miners making solar panels instead of dying from black lung disease or trapped in cave-ins. People employed in making electric cars that don't pollute. No more trillion dollar subsidies for coal and oil companies. Solar farms generating income for farmers and a tax base for small towns. No more nuclear reactor meltdowns. Light bulbs, which we've been using for decades now, that use much less energy than incandescent, and last for years longer, saving people money. Fracking that has turned Oklahoma into earthquake central, polluting the water table, making homes unsalable because you can light the gas coming from the water taps. No one's going to have to give up meat. Stopping the change in weather that is making crop disease more virulent and will raise the temperature so high that corn can't pollinate. Working toward a clean planet, the only one we have. The horror of it all, Mike.
ReplyDelete