2012 conventions 2012 election 2013 session 2013 special election arts arts and culture author ballot measures bomb books budget bullying business charlie hales children clackamas climate change coal courts crime culture culture club democrats drugs economy education environment family film fluoride food gay rights guns handguns health health care health insurance high school history housing immigration international internet kitzhaber law legislature lgbt literary arts living marijuana medicine mental health military minor parties mohamed mohamud movies music native americans news newspaper obama olympics oregon our town parenting pers photography police politcs politics port portland portland business journal portland mayor president prevention public safety religion republicans rnc romney rural salem sam adams sandy hook schools science shooting sports suicide supreme court taxes television terrorism theater third parties timber payments transportation union university of oregon violence washington water wildfire women

meat is not sustainable

posted 3 years, 8 months ago
view in context

I used to want to have my own biological children and many of them.  However, as I have grown up and matured, I have decided not to bear children for a myriad of reasons. Refraining from reproducing is the biggest way for people to mitigate climate change.  By not having children, you can cut the reproductive cycle of creating humans who necessarily leave carbon footprints in the world-- especially the case for Americans, whose carbon footprints are disproportionately large compared to other countries.  Climate change is not just an environmental problem; it is a human rights problem.  About 300,000 people die annually from climate change impacts.  

Second, by not having children, you can begin to tame the overpopulation problem in the world, which has had drastic consequences to the environment in general.  People are crowding out wildlife species, overfishing oceans, and wrecking havoc on our waterways by intense livestock rearing.  There is no need to add to this mess.  

Third, not bearing children opens up your world to adoption. Plenty of children need loving homes.

Despite these compelling reasons, my family has pressured me into reproducing.  "The world needs smart people like you to have children to solve these problems." "With adoption, you just don't know what problems you're going to get."  "We want grandchildren."  My response is usually to point out the problems with this logic.  A lot of smart people have existed in this world and we still have a ton of problems.  My theoretical kid isn't the solution.  Humans have caused climate change.  Adding another human isn't going to help. Punting our problems to a new generation is irresponsible. You cannot guarantee the health of your biological child either. My parents can have adoptive grandchildren.

Had my parents and their ancestors left me with a healthy, functioning world, I'd probably embrace the idea of bearing children.  But I cannot close my eyes to the problems humans have caused.  Especially in light of impending catastrophic climate change, having children is irresponsible.

posted 3 years, 8 months ago
view in context