local/global solutions

Sometimes global solutions to environmental problems are necessary, such
as the treaty banning CFCs to prevent the destruction of the ozone layer.

But for the most part, action is necessary in local ecosystem areas by
those on the ground over a protracted period.  (Herman Daly argues at
length and persuasively for this principle, which he applies to "free
trade" as well.)

It does absolutely no good to take a problem like overpopulation and
spread it around over a larger area -- this just magnifies the problem.

In the case of the U.S. and Mexico, for instance, the far bigger problem
for the U.S., in terms of I=PCT, is not P but C and T.  (Banning SUVs
alone would probably have a greater effect than limiting immigration, for
instance.)  But that doesn't mean population increase through immigration
poses no problems.  First, more people adopting the unsustainable American
consumption pattern is destructive.  And second, the "safety valve" for
Mexico postpones the reckoning that must come in terms of its own
environmental problems.  Mexico City is currently one of the biggest
environmental disasters on the planet.

The economists are quite persuasive as to the "benefits of immigration" 
within their narrow equations, but what they leave out ("externalities,"
"quality of life," environmental sustainability, and the inherent
worth of species and ecosystems) is crucial.  Socialists who don't
consciously address these basic issues are not likely to do any better
than the USSR did in terms of the environment (assuming they ever
have a chance again to try).

In short, speaking to the Sierra Club debate, there are doubtless some
reactionary, racist, nationalist, and/or elitist types involved.  But the
anti-immigration side of that debate makes some serious points that are
motivated by long-term concerns over ecosystems (which INCLUDE people, not
the other way around), and which deserve a serious hearing.

[But challenging anthropocentrism is going after the most sacred of Sacred
Cows, and Cow worshippers of Right and Left tend to ignore or attack
apostates.]

RH