Time to Clear the Air on Immigration

摘要

It seems to me that if we are to have a useful debate about immigration and the environment we need parties to the discussion who have some depth of analysis-or who are willing to talk about it at all. Right now we don't seem to have either. Anti-immigration folks like to rattle off stats about rampant sprawl, traffic growth, increasing emissions-and anecdotes like our "paving over an area the size of Delaware every year"-and then conclude that it is all due to immigration. Funny, but I do not see very many Latinos driving luxury SUVs or living large in McMansions. And we certainly have many environmental problems in areas of the U.S. that are not primary destinations for newcomers. Yes, first generations born to immigrants will likely emulate the excesses of the lifestyle we Americans think we are entitled to, but then that means our problem is really bigger than immigration.