Your kid is killing my earth....

Children are the reason for global warming. Well, not maliciously, but they are why the ice caps are melting, why basic food prices are on the rise. Don't jump to the conclusion that I'm referring to over-population, although that is part of the problem, it's not my underlying argument.

Tax breaks.

That's my underlying argument.

The federal government allows a break on taxes for every child you have. Supposedly this is to make things financially more viable for said family. In the long run, it actually costs the family more money due to rising food and fuel prices. It is this lack of tax income to the government that is hurting the American family.

Taxes pay for our education system, and yet the people who use this system are the ones being given a break on funding that system. Those with children aren't paying into that which educates their children as much as non-breeding families do. Teachers pay for supplies out of pocket, lunch programs are being wiped out left and right, and there is no money for any type of extra-curricular activities. Now families are paying more for healthy (we would hope) lunches for their kids to take to school and fees for private athletic programs.

Now that these kids are getting shuttled to the soccer field, the dance studio, the karate dojo, we are leaving a larger carbon footprint by all of this constant motion from one venue to the next. We drive them to the mall to buy the gear they need, we take them to practice, we go to the grocery store for lunch snacks, activity snacks.

How do we get to these places? Mr. and Mrs,. Average American will taxi their brood in an SUV. Now if that family were interested in getting another tax break, they could buy a hybrid vehicle, as the government will reward those who own and drive those wonders of science. But they don't make a Prius with room for six and three DVD players in the back, so Joe Blow will do what he thinks is his part in supporting the American economy and eschew those efficient imports for a true-blue American monster. They will take it three times as much to the local BP station and fill 'er up, unwittingly contributing the profits of a foreign-owned oil company (yes, BP is British). And should some of those profits make it into the hands of Americans, they will be mostly be shared by the stock-holders who make enough money that they get even larger tax-breaks than the folks who pay their salary leaving less money going into the tax-funded education system.

As the average price of gas goes up, the good folks who grow the food we eat suffer, too. Shipping costs go up due to high gas prices and to recoup those losses, the farmer needs to charge more for his wares. In order to off-set production costs, many will use chemicals to boost production in order to get multiple harvests in a given year. Others in Third World countries will use slash-and-burn techniques to clear more land for farming, disrupting the natural balance in local ecosystems and adding more pollutants to the atmosphere.

But what of those goods folks supporting organic products and using canvass shopping bags to help with the environment? My applause for them, indeed, but it's hard to clap for someone who loads those Whole Foods products into a Hummer left running in the parking lot while her four kids watch "Spiderman 3" in the back seat.

Those who choose not to have children pay more into the tax system than those who use the system for their kids. If anything, the tax breaks should be given to those who are contributing to the balance of nature by not reproducing and wreaking havoc on the environment in their vain attempts to carry on a surname. Reward those who leave a smaller carbon footprint. That's not to say that childless couples do not do their part to destroy the world unwittingly, but they do it at a much slower pace. Less mouths to feed and shuttle around leave less of a footprint behind.

So don't grumble when you fill the tank on your Suburban while taking Ethan and Mackenzie to the water park (whew, it's a hot summer, eh?) because the government, if you remember, is rewarding you for this.