Too Many People Part II

One of the best ways to get the global warming crisis under control is to halt, and eventually reverse, population growth. Currently, the United States ranks as the world's #1 contributor to global warming and we need responsibile National Population Policy that will reduce America's carbon footprint. As often stated, according to the UN's conservative estimates, America produces 20 metric tons of pollutants pre capita annually. If we add 300 miilion more people, we will be producing an additional 6 billion metric tons of those pollutants each year at the present rate. Even if we were to be able to reduce our per capita output to Mexico's 10 metric tons per per capita per year, we would not have made any progress on reducing the present unacceptable level as our population doubles. Clearly, the road to a responsible climate policy begins with a responsible population policy.

Today's unprededented population growth has pushed millions of people to build their homes on major flood plains and along hurricane-threatened coasts and in areas vulnerable to ravaging forest fires. If responsible population policies are enacted, many of these areas would and could be place off limits.

If we are going to succeed in turning around our soaring population numbers, we need a National Population Policy beginning with a national objective of a stabile population to be achieved within 20 years. This effort requires support from citizens to get Congress to create a U.S. Commission on Population Growth. Its charter should be to establish guideliness whereby our entire nation will be focused on the goal to slow, halt and eventually reverse today's escalating growth. Ideally, the recommmendations of this commission would become law unless a 60% majority in both houses of the congress votes otherwise.

As our nation confronts the problem of too many people, it is time to re-examine our national philosophy of "growth at any cost". Our elected leaders must take action today to control future development. We cannot continue to add more and more people to our population without creating disastrous social, economic and environmental problems.