The May 2009 issue of BioScience carried a Viewpoint column written by Conrad Lautenbacher Jr entitled, “Ocean and Atmosphere– The Future”. Lautenbacher is no light weight. He was a Vice Admiral in the US Navy and Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and a NOAA administrator. In otherwords, when he speaks, it is time to listen.
In the column, he responded to the question, “What are the global trends affecting the ocean and atmosphere?”. I quote it below in full:
“In the atmosphere, human-produced contaminants threaten the health and welfare of all air-breathing species. In the ocean, marine debris generated by one country washes up on the shores of another. The absorption of increased atmospheric carbon has made the ocean more acidic (or less basic, to be accurate), thus jeopardizing the existence of organisms that depend on calcification and are essential to the entire food chain. Biodiversity is declining at an alarming rate, and overfishing worldwide has brought about a rapid decrease in populations of large fishes. Trends in the ocean and atmosphere are clearly affecting the sustainability of the human race.
Population trends are alarming. With almost seven billion people, the earth is strained as never before to support the human species. People are moving to the coasts and large cities, thus magnifying the need to study, understand, and apply large-scale ecosystem approaches to the management of human activities.
Climate change and global warming are clearly affecting the ocean and atmosphere; or better said, observed changes in the ocean and atmosphere indicate that the earth is warming and climate is changing.”
There is not much more to be said. This is the same message echoed by hundreds and even thousands of scientists worldwide. Will mankind listen before it is too late or will we literally reproduce ourselves to extinction. The Earth will live on quite nicely without us.
The Wall Street Journal in the July 9th issue reports that the Obama administration is implementing a Bush-era initiated program aimed at cracking down on federal contractors that hire illegal aliens. It is about time!
Naturally, the business community is not happy with this move since they are the very ones who benefit the most from underpaid and under-the-table labor. It is estimated the crackdown will affect about 170,000 companies from health care to construction to weapons makers and more. It includes all companies who receive government business or federal stimulus funds.
The program mandates all employees be checked through the government’s E-Verify system to see whether or not they are entitled to work in the United States of America. This system checks names and Social Security numbers with a government database. Invalid equals no job.
The program goes into effect September 8th. It is a favorite of those who favor strong enforcement of U.S. Immigration laws. Republican senators managed to amend a budget bill for the Department of Homeland Security with a provision that makes this program permanent by law thereby removing any White House discretion to end it. The bill which must be reconciled with the House version could go to a final vote later this week.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Professional Services Council (a major trade and lobbying group for government contractors), and the American Civil Liberties Union are unhappy. Not only are new hires to be screened, but all existing employees are to have their status checked as well. If workers are found to be in the U.S. illegally, contractors are supposed to fire them. The “employers” are whining about potentially being responsible for compliance.
This is a very positive move by the current administration. It is one very significant factor in regaining control over our national borders and enforcement of U.S. law. The next move should be to engage all local law enforcement agencies in the effort.