Having large families should be frowned upon as an environmental misdemeanour in the same way as frequent long-haul flights, driving a big car and failing to reuse plastic bags, says a report to be published today by a green think tank.There you have it. The thought of bringing a child into the world is compared with planes rides, cars and plastic bags. Children, they're just a commodity for some people to score cheap political points.
The paper by the Optimum Population Trust will say that if couples had two children instead of three they could cut their family's carbon dioxide output by the equivalent of 620 return flights a year between London and New York.
John Guillebaud, co-chairman of OPT and emeritus professor of family planning at University College London, said: "The effect on the planet of having one child less is an order of magnitude greater than all these other things we might do, such as switching off lights.
"The greatest thing anyone in Britain could do to help the future of the planet would be to have one less child."
But wouldn't having one less child reduce the number of future environmental wackos?
Understandably, there are concerns with poor families and those in developing nations having too many children, I'll grant that. Still, I doubt anyone starting or expanding a family is going to ponder what impact their baby is going to have on any carbon footprint.
UPDATE: More from Michelle Malkin, Wizbang!
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