Democrat 2020 candidate Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) suggested that the government needs to play a role in addressing overpopulation in the form of “family planning” during MSNBC’s climate change forum at Georgetown University on Thursday.
Ryan participated in the forum Thursday, where he was asked about “overpopulation” and its role in climate change.
“What effect do you feel that overpopulation has with global warming and should we be doing anything to combat this?” a student asked.
Ryan was perceptive to the premise of the question – that population control needs to be part of the climate change conversation.
“It’s about resources, so yeah,” Ryan said. “I mean, I think we should be active again with international agencies within the State Department.”
“Now the president wants once to cut the State Department budget dramatically,” he continued, adding that the U.S. needs to “be involved in the United Nations family planning efforts around the world.”
“I think we need to continue to do that. It’s an important approach that we need to continue to make,” he added.
Ryan’s remarks echo the call Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) made during CNN’s 7-hour climate change town hall this month. The socialist senator floated global population control during the forum after a woman asked if he would be “courageous enough to discuss this issue [population control] and make it a key feature of a plan to address climate catastrophe.”
“The answer is yes,” Sanders said, articulating his support of population control in the form of contraceptives and worldwide abortions.
“And the Mexico City agreement, which denies American aid to those organizations around the world that are – that allow women to have abortions or even get involved in birth control is totally absurd,” he continued.
“So I think especially in poor countries around the world, where women do not necessarily want to have large numbers of babies and where they can have the opportunity to birth control to control the number of kids they have is something I very, very strongly support,” he added.
Activists across the globe are taking part in a worldwide strike to protest climate change on Friday. Clips show thousands of people gathering in cities across the globe to stand against the “looming threat.” Protesters in the nation’s capital could be heard shouting, “Hey hey, ho ho. Climate change has got to go” and “Don’t eat cows, eat the rich.” Some activists took their positions a step further, telling Breitbart News that socialism and climate change activism go hand in hand.