Thread: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Chertoff Blames Border Crossers For Land Damage
Tuesday, October 2, 2007; Page A17

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, whose department has come under fire from environmentalists for fencing off hundreds of miles of the U.S. border with Mexico at Congress's request, said yesterday that he knows of something worse for nature than a wall: illegal immigrants.

"Illegal migrants really degrade the environment. I've seen pictures of human waste, garbage, discarded bottles and other human artifact in pristine areas," Chertoff told the Associated Press, in remarks confirmed by his spokesman. "And believe me, that is the worst thing you can do to the environment."

Chertoff spoke as DHS announced it has more than doubled the number of miles of border fencing in the year that ended Sunday, to more than 150. The agency is on track to meet a goal of 370 miles of fencing and 200 miles of vehicle barriers along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico by the end of 2008.

Last week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it will conduct environmental impact studies on two proposed stretches of fencing, one extending about 70 miles southeast of Rio Grande City in south Texas and another about four miles east of San Diego.

Environmentalists say studies are being done piecemeal and were neglected at six active construction sites in Arizona. They say fences affect migratory and mating patterns and destroy habitats used by 500 kinds of birds, as well as threatened species such as jaguars and the Sonoran pronghorn antelope. Construction crews and the Border Patrol use off-road vehicles that worsen the environmental damage caused by immigrants, they say.

Yesterday, the Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife appealed to the Interior Department to stop construction in a wildlife area on the San Pedro River in southeastern Arizona.

Congress has given Chertoff authority to waive legal requirements, including environmental laws, to build border barriers. Pending legislation could require DHS to consult with local and federal agencies to minimize environmental damage.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... newsletter

There is plenty of room on either side of a fence for animals, and please tell me how a fence effects BIRDS!

Okay, I want to know what the human skull is smoking. I've read this article a few times now and I can't believe he actually grew a backbone and stood against the environmental groups.

I am glad he did because either the enviromentalist groups have ignored the trash problem, or they simply don't want to touch this "radioactive" topic. They complain about the fence disrupting migratory paths of birds, and destroying habitats, but they seem to forget about the tons and tons of trash left EVERY DAY by illegals.
Either way, it was a bold move on his part to make this statement. I know we all have made this arguement before to the tree hugging groups, but it always seems to fall on deaf ears. At least it has when I've argued this with enviromentalists. But of course, it's hard to argue with a group who believes in the hoax of man made global warming.

Don't know if anyone caught his interview (Chertoff) with Glenn Beck yesterday, but I also felt like pinching myself to be sure I actually heard what I thought I had heard. He sounded fairly reasonable and was saying the 'right' things.
But, maybe, just maybe... there is a glimmer of hope that he is beginning to hear the American people and deal with security first and foremost.

Any so-called 'environmentalist' that claims their public opposition to the border fence but looks the other way on the much larger effect of mass immigration into the world's largest consumer of energy, cars/trucks, consumer items, etc. is a complete hypocrite. No two ways about it. Or, stated another way, the environmental effects of adding millions of bodies here is far more destructive than placing a barrier or two along the border - it's just that the effects are more diffuse, and not necessarily immediate.

It is my personal opinion that we should offer some concerted and sustained pressure ('reminders') to Chertoff and DHS to keep the pressure on. So far, that seems to be the only thing that has motivated him/them to really do anything.

Funny how they whine about the environmental impact of a fence
but completely ignore the New River.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DW-B1oAK1fM

Def

Maybe all those people who complain about the fence would like to go out and clean up all the filth the illegals leave on the land they cross getting into this country.
There is NO reason not to build the fence.
Chertoff is doing a lot of good for our cause. Hes on our side.