The P-Word

It’s back. This, from Jonathon Porritt,  the British government’s environmental advisor:

“I am unapologetic about asking people to connect up their own responsibility for their total environmental footprint and how they decide to procreate and how many children they think are appropriate.”

He says that “that having more than two children is irresponsible. It is the ghost at the table. We have all these big issues that everybody is looking at and then you don’t really hear anyone say the “p” word.”

The blowback didn’t take long:

“Now we have Porritt demanding smaller families in order to save the planet. So maybe the solution is the extinction of the human race? The argument for limiting family sizes in Britain is the first hesitant step in that direction.”

Don’t expect leading Green groups in the U.S to wade into these murky waters anytime soon. What happened to the Sierra Club a few years back still gives them the shudders.

Can’t we have a rational discussion about the p-word?