Having children is selfish?

Is this what passes for enlightened liberal thought these days?

Had Toni Vernelli gone ahead with her pregnancy ten years ago, she would know at first hand what it is like to cradle her own baby, to have a pair of innocent eyes gazing up at her with unconditional love, to feel a little hand slipping into hers - and a voice calling her Mummy.

But the very thought makes her shudder with horror.

Because when Toni terminated her pregnancy, she did so in the firm belief she was helping to save the planet.

Incredibly, so determined was she that the terrible "mistake" of pregnancy should never happen again, that she begged the doctor who performed the abortion to sterilise her at the same time.

He refused, but Toni - who works for an environmental charity - "relentlessly hunted down a doctor who would perform the irreversible surgery.

Finally, eight years ago, Toni got her way.

At the age of 27 this young woman at the height of her reproductive years was sterilised to "protect the planet".

Incredibly, instead of mourning the loss of a family that never was, her boyfriend (now husband) presented her with a congratulations card.

While some might think it strange to celebrate the reversal of nature and denial of motherhood, Toni relishes her decision with an almost religious zeal.

"Having children is selfish. It's all about maintaining your genetic line at the expense of the planet," says Toni, 35.

An almost religious zeal? She is the very definition of a religious zealot. Her religion is environmental activism and she worships at the church of global warming.

Toni was happy, at last, with fellow environmentalists who shared her philosophy. But when she was 25, disaster struck.

"I discovered that despite taking the Pill, I'd accidentally fallen pregnant by my boyfriend.

"I was horrified. I knew straight away there was no option of having the baby.

"I went to my doctor about having a termination, and asked if I could be sterilised at the same time.

"This time it was a male doctor. I remember saying to him: 'I want to make sure this never happens again.'

"He said: 'You may not want a child, but one day you may meet a man who does'. He refused to consider it.

"I didn't like having a termination, but it would have been immoral to give birth to a child that I felt strongly would only be a burden to the world.

"I've never felt a twinge of guilt about what I did, and have honestly never wondered what might have been.

"After my abortion, I was more determined than ever to pursue sterilisation.

Here is the rub my darling, you decided to have an abortion, that is your choice, not one that I agree with, but it is yours none the less, your not having a child means absolutely nothing to this world. Absolutely zero. Why do you consider yourself so important to the grand scheme of life on this planet that your child would be a burden on it? Today in India alone around 72,000 babies were born. Today. Why is your child a problem? Why do you think you are so darned important?

Because the environmentalists tell you your are. Because they tell us if we all trade in out SUVs for a Prius the world would be a tangibly better place to live. What a load of self delusional crap you are buying into. You are not important to the well being of this world, sorry to break that to you, but buying compact florescent light bulbs because they have a 'earth friendly' sticker on them doesn't mean a thing to the earth. You cannot conserve your way out of a problem when everyone else is going full bore in the other direction.

The world is not a zero sum game. If you change every light bulb in your house, sell your car, buy a bicycle, walk to the store and grow your own vegetables in your garden, that does not change the fact that China and India are just now hitting their industrial stride when it comes to building infrastructure. Coal fired power plants are being built everywhere, new roads being paved to make way for the new wave of private car ownership that is sweeping through the second world's economies.

China and India have doubled their private car ownership from 1995 to 2000. As the global economy grows, these two nations will soon be using more energy that the United States. Is that a good thing? Not for the environment. There is no EPA in India or China. They are polluting this planet at a tremendous rate.

If you want to stop global pollution, talk to China and India, don't try to make me feel guilty because I have children. China is the worlds second largest importer of oil and by 2010 it should become number one. China will spend about 3.7 TRILLION dollars to increase it power generating capabilities in the next twenty years, mostly from coal. How much carbon will that burn? About 11.4 GIGATONNES of CO2 emissions by 2030.

I don't know how much CO2 my kids will be burning by 2030, but I am sure it will not be 11.4 gigatonnes.

I do agree that we are heading towards a major crap storm of pollution and an energy crisis, but one person having one child somewhere in the UK? It does not matter one little bit.

If the responsibility of having children is too much for you, its better that you don't have them. I would hate to be raised in a home where I was looked upon as a burden to the planet, not a blessing from God.