Democrat Hank Johnson Afraid Guam Will "Tip Over and Capsize"

[RU OX Alum]

Originally Posted by FHwku

i think he was speaking figuratively. 8,000 Marines and their families are being added, with all the that entails. the expected influx would near 80,000 people at the peak of construction. that's on an island 30 miles long, 4 to 12 miles wide, with an existing population of 180,000. it's going to put a strain on all existing systems: sewage, water, public utilities, et al. not to mention the ecosystem of a pretty little island.

Okay, but Manhattan is 13 miles long and only 2.5 miles wide, and has over 1.6 million residents, and nearly continious construction. I think Guam will be okay. It survived changing hands during a war. Probably more than one.

Nature is extremely powerful, although beautiful. Do not equate beauty with weakness. The island will be okay.

At first I figured he meant economically, and then I realized he was serious. Did you see the look on the Marine guy's face? And then he said "we don't anticipate that happening."

Classic.

[FHwku]

Originally Posted by RU OX Alum

Okay, but Manhattan is 13 miles long and only 2.5 miles wide, and has over 1.6 million residents, and nearly continious construction. I think Guam will be okay. It survived changing hands during a war. Probably more than one.

Nature is extremely powerful, although beautiful. Do not equate beauty with weakness. The island will be okay.

Manhattan is also on the coast of the US, in the middle of NYC, has no worry of running out of fresh drinking/waste water, and has multiple routes in and out (boat/plane/train/car/bike/walk/swim...) but who wants to swim in the East River?

Guam is in the middle of the ocean, has a 0-1300 elevation range, and only has two ways on/off: boat or plane. 8,000 additional troops and their families need homes, roads, schools, offices, etc. about 80,000 (45% pop. increase at peak) people that come to construct, teach, feed, and whatnot will tax the existing water and waste systems. large influxes of foreign workers also increases the risk of introducing a foreign species to the island. before WWII, Guam didn't have any terrestrial snakes. now they eat all the birds.

the island will be okay, but it'll suffer drastic changes in a very short time. not to mention, you'd be hard-pressed to find a tropical island paradise that wants to nearly double it's population for any length of time. the exception being Tom Hanks in Castaway. and in that case, Wilson doubled the population, but didn't consume any resources.