http://www.dailycamera.com

Immigration vs. environment
Lamm: Stance is a green thing, but many disagree

By Kate Larsen, Camera Staff Writer
January 23, 2006

Dick Lamm wants people to think about why immigration is bad for the planet.

The Democrat and former three-term Colorado governor is part of a group pushing to ban illegal immigrants from using state services. He doesn't want to be pegged a racist for joining the right on the issue, though. For Lamm, it's about the big picture.

"The ecosystem doesn't need another 300 million consuming Americans," he said. "I'm just appalled that the environmental movement, in its political correctness, doesn't take on this question of how big we want to be."

Arguments against immigration are usually framed around economics, health care and its effects on school systems in the United States.

Lamm talks about those issues. But he says the biggest consequence of immigration into this country — legal or illegal — is that it creates more people who adopt the wasteful American lifestyle.

"The globe is warming, our rainforests are disappearing and our farmland is blowing away," said Lamm, executive director of the University of Denver's Center for Public Policy and Contemporary Issues. "Most people are just going to have to bloom where they're planted."

Most environmentalists agree with Lamm that 20 percent of the world's richest people are consuming at least 80 percent of the resources. But they're not all ready to join his fight against immigration.

"I think there are much better ways to solving resource depletion and environmental problems than closing our borders," said Steve Welter, a Boulder resident and chairman of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Welter recommends an international approach to sustainability.

Ken Bickers, a University of Colorado political science professor, said Lamm's argument is a "blame-the-victim policy."

"It's the idea that if people seeking a better life do that, it would be bad for the globe, rather than talking about how it's the people who have the high standard of living that are causing the degradation," Bickers said.

Lamm does support increasing foreign aid to developing countries and halting the production of cars that get less than 40 miles per gallon.

"Immigration isn't the only thing I'm working on," he said.

After "bumming around" in India — the world's second most populous country — about 30 years ago and witnessing the poverty there, Lamm said population control became his life's devotion.

"Liberals should really love borders," he said. "They're the only way our social services can sustain."

Marta Valenzuela Moreno, director of the Longmont-based nonprofit El Comite, which provides resources for Latino families and many immigrants, said the former governor's stance "irritates her."

Immigrants coming to the United States have the opportunity for a better education, she said, which makes them more responsible citizens.

Al Bartlett, a retired CU professor famous for his talk about the dangers of population growth, said the United States needs to focus on its total numbers, not just immigrants.

The U.S. population is expected to hit 300 million this year, up from 150 million in 1950.

"Immigration is estimated to be about three-quarters of the population growth in the U.S.," Bartlett said. "But the problem is numbers, not people."

Bartlett said Americans should work to make sure every child worldwide is a wanted child.

"I think that would solve the population problem," Bartlett said.

Contact Camera Staff Writer Kate Larsen at (303) 473-1361 or larsenk@dailycamera.com.