Environmentalist population growing out of control

A couple of weeks ago a body calling itself the Optimum Population Trust called for families in the UK to limit themselves to a single child. The Times had this to say:

Britain’s birthrate, growing at its fastest for nearly 30 years – at 1.87 children per couple – is, says the author of its report, Professor John Guillebaud, an environmental liability. “Each new UK birth, through the inevitable resource consumption and pollution that UK affluence generates, is responsible for about 160 times as much climate-related environmental damage as a new birth in Ethiopia.”

Professor Guillebaud has three children.  As does Sir Crispin Tickell, a patron of the Trust. The majority of the other patrons, and Prof Guillebaud's co-chair, Val Stevens, have two children each.

Comments

[John Nicklin]

Its not about doing as they do, its about doing as they say. Same as "environmetal" groups telling us we shouldn't use so much energy or fly as much, then jumping on an airplane to go to a rally.

[IanC]

Reminds me of the late Spike Milligan, who famously wrote to Tony Blair advocating population control, this was before he revealed two children with mistresses in addition to the four he already had.

Norma Farnes, his manager, was childless. She reported he excused his having four children by claiming he had Norma's quota too, so that was all right.

I'm sure Milligan was jesting, but with the likes of Prof. Guillebaud I'm not so sure.