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Chris

Extreme Weather and Climate Change

Extreme weather is putting hundreds of thousands of lives and livelihoods at risk all around the world. In order to avoid the worst and most devastating impacts of the severe weather events that are consistent with climate change, we must begin to significantly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

Learn more about climate change and extreme weather and make sure your friends and family get the facts.

Get the Facts: Extreme Weather and Global Climate Change

• Pollution from human activities is warming our climate. The 10 warmest years on record all occurred since 1990, and the last decade was the hottest recorded since worldwide record keeping began more than 100 years ago. The period between January and June of 2010 was the warmest six months on record.
• A warming climate increases the chance that we will experience extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and intense storms, and ramps up the risk that severe weather events will cause catastrophic damage.
• The floods, fires and droughts we're seeing in places like Pakistan and Russia are consistent with the effects of global warming, including temperature increases, increased precipitation in some parts of the world, and droughts in others.
• In early August, a 97-square mile chunk of ice--the largest since 1962--broke away from the northwest coast of Greenland.¹ Canadian officials fear the massive "ice island" could pose a risk to ships and oil platforms.²
• Unless we significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, we are likely to see even more extreme weather events and the consequences they bring.

References:
1. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Earth Observatory, "Ice Island Calves off Petermann Glacier," August 13, 2010.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=45112
2. Randy Boswell, "Giant iceberg drifting toward Canada could threaten ships, oil platforms," Montreal Gazette, August 10, 2010.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Giant+iceberg+drifting+toward+Canada+could+threaten+ships+platforms/3382103/story.html

A Rebuttal to Anti-Immigrant Baloney

From CNN's Jack Cafferty:

“As the debate over illegal immigration – and now over the 14th amendment – heats up, consider this:

In Texas alone, there are more than 60,000 babies born to non-citizens every year. These babies automatically become U.S. citizens. The Dallas Morning News reports that last year these births represented almost 16% of the total births statewide. And, that from 2001 to 2009, there were more than 542,000 births to illegal immigrant women.

Let me repeat, all these babies automatically become U.S. citizens... and we're just talking about Texas here. This is why some Republicans want to consider changing the Constitution's guarantee of citizenship for anyone born in the United States.

House Minority Leader John Boehner says many illegal immigrants come here just so their children can become U.S. citizens. Boehner points to parts of our country where schools and hospitals are being overrun by illegal aliens. Other Republicans say if both parents are here illegally, why should there be a reward for that behavior? And they have a point.

But opponents worry about the children, saying they didn't break any laws, yet would have no rights and nowhere to go. Others claim the whole issue isn't about anchor babies, but rather about politics and using immigration as a wedge issue headed into the midterm elections.

The 14th amendment became law in 1868. It was meant as a way to block states that prevented former slaves from becoming citizens. Changing it would require a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate, and approval of three-quarters of the state legislatures. My guess is if it was put to a vote of the people it would pass yesterday.

Here’s my question to you: At least 60,000 babies born to non-citizens every year in Texas alone get U.S. citizenship. What should be done about it?”

HERE IS MY RESPONSE, YOU IGNORANT ASS:

For 145 years, the 14^th Amendment to the United States Constitution has been the law of the land, stating that any person born in the US is a citizen. Period. No qualifications.

The 14^th amendment requires no changes, nor do any other parts of the Constitution (except perhaps to raise laws that provide women equal rights to a constitutional level). However, existing federal law requires changing to assure an effective path to legal citizenship. Immigrants, legal or otherwise, come to the U.S. because of the opportunity to get a job, earn a living and provide for their families. This perspective is “the American Dream.” That dream should not stop at our country’s borders.

Undocumented workers add to our economy and our culture. They pay taxes and contribute to the communities in which they work. 
A PPIC published a study in 2008, "How Immigrants Affect California Employment and Wages," (ppic.org) found: 



· There is no evidence that the influx of immigrants [into California] over the past four decades has worsened the employment opportunities of natives with similar education and experience.

· There is no association between the influx of immigrants and the out-migration of natives within the same education and age group.

· Immigration induced a 4% real wage increase for the average native worker between 1990 and 2004.

· Recent immigrants worked for lower the wages than previous immigrants.

I am tired of Right Wing paranoia and stupidity. To wit:

1) We are not becoming a socialist society. The self-proclaimed “Tea Party” could not exist under a socialist society, as it is not self-sustaining.

The economic policies designed to extract us from the Great Recession are direct descendants of Keynsian economics that pulled us out of the Great Depression. Keynes designed those policies to counter socialist ideas, pressing to reduce unemployment and increase productivity in order to further a capitalist economic system.

If any are benefitting from socialism in this country, it is the rich whose high incomes and low taxes afford them relatively inexpensive health care, unburdened retirements and political hegemony over the rest of the country. 



2) I object to the Right's pejorative use of the term "anchor baby."

There is no such thing. Children born to undocumented immigrants are U.S. citizens under the Constitution. I have yet to see any evidence that undocumented immigrants are having children as a means of staying in this country.

In fact, those children present a huge humanitarian and potentially costly government problem because their parents have no legal right to stay here and can be deported just as easily as non parent resident aliens, presenting them with the dilemma of taking their U.S. citizen children with them or leaving the country without them. 



3) I am tired of the specious charge that undocumented immigrants are a drag on the economy.

The Harvard Latino Law Review noted: "Every empirical study of “illegals’”
economic impact demonstrates ... "undocumenteds" actually contribute more to public coffers in taxes than they cost in social services."

“… Natives exploit illegal immigrants through the public coffers by taking much more from the "illegals" in taxes than is spent on them in public expenditures.” (See http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=881584)

A Congressional Budget Office study says this claim might be a bit too strong, but "the amount that state and local governments spend on services for unauthorized immigrants represents a small percentage of the total amount spent by those governments to provide such services to residents in their jurisdictions.” 



4. I no longer want to hear that we should follow other countries in restricting citizenship by birthright.

This is the “land of the free” and not pre-World War I or II Germany or Iran. We should be proud of our unparalleled level of civil rights and not seek to join any international race to the bottom.

Do you understand, or do I need to reduce this to a 3rd grade reading level?