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Date published: 9/30/2005
As an immigrant and an environmentalist, I would like to thank Bob Sargeant for his article on Sierra Club leaders forgetting the main mission, which is to protect the environment ["Sierra Club leaders forget the mission, all in the name of politics," Sept. 22]. In order not to address immigration, the Sierra Club argues that Americans must first solve global poverty. But there are billions of people in the rest of the world who live in poverty and wish to come here. In addition, some 75 million are added every year worldwide, and they also need to be fed and educated. Realistically, what are the chances that the U.S. can successfully empower 10 percent of poor people abroad in 50 years--within the lifetimes of today's college students? By then, according to a projection by the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. population could exceed half of India's current population! If the Sierra Club is willing to sponsor three balanced, highly publicized debates on immigration, inviting immigrants and civil rights activists presenting environmental arguments to reduce immigration, I am confident that most of the Sierra Club members will support immigration reduction, a necessary step to protect the environment. So far, most voting members were misled by name-calling. Yeh Ling-Ling Oakland, Calif. Yeh Ling-Ling is executive director of Diversity Alliance for a Sustainable America.
1. Be respectful. No personal attacks.
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