OP-ED: AOC’s Climate Change Legislation Does Not Value Life
Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts introduced their non-binding Green New Deal resolution, a broad and very detailed plan to de-carbonize and turbo-charge the US economy. This plan calls for 100% of the power demand of the United States, through renewable energy sources and cutting greenhouse-gas emissions to net-zero by 2030. Being that we are in 2020, it seems to be the work of wishful thinking or a complete overhaul of life as it is. To accomplish this, the proposal calls for a green transformation of US infrastructure, electricity grids, and transportation systems.
The United Nations promotes population control as a means of combating climate change in their Agenda 2030, which states that the human population grew from 1.6 billion to 6.1 billion during the 20th century alone. During that same time, emissions of CO2, the leading greenhouse gas, grew 12-fold. The worldwide population expected to surpass nine billion over the next 50 years, environmentalists, and others are worried about the ability of the planet to withstand the added load of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere and wreaking havoc on ecosystems down below.
Ocasio has taken on an agenda to question the moral character of those still considering having children in such a time as “climate change”. In an Instagram Live video, she warned, “Our planet is going to face disaster if we do not turn this ship around. And so, it is basically like, there is a scientific consensus that the lives of children are going to be very difficult.” These subtle messages claiming to protect our future children from the ills of climate change by not bearing any children is a thinly veiled campaign against life, be it in or outside of the womb, rather than a proposed solution to climate change.
Interestingly enough, only those privileged to be born are able to concert such a solution claiming to save the planet for future generations by not procreating any future posterity to inhabit it. Each of us are endowed by our creators with unalienable rights which include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – which can include creating families and bearing children, and that’s not up to members of congress to decide – the constitution says its the right of each individual.
By analyzing historical data trends, we see improvement in the quality of life that comes from innovations in agriculture, food production, health, and technological advancements, produced at a speed that has never before been achieved. It is naive to suggest the we’ve reached our capacity to innovate and must de-populate. The future generations will only build on our advancements, offering better answers and solutions to our current problems than we are presently equipped to handle. Continued growth can only come from our future generations.
We do not need to succumb to a draconian government system where having children is regulated by strict government measures in order to address climate change. Countries, like China, that have tried regulating births saw their birth rate decline from 1.8 percent in 1978 to around 1.2 percent in 2007 but also self-inflicted socio-economic damage in the process. First and foremost, value life. Find solutions that truly defend and protect life. Suggesting we do not procreate in order to not hurt future generations does not sanctify or protect life- it literally ends it. The Green New Deal must offer realistic solutions that address climate change while not infringing on our constitutional right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.