EARTH DAY 2008 – The “inconvenient truth” is that population growth drives our environmental problems

Californians for Population Stabilization will participate in Earth Day events:

April 12 – Santa Monica
April 19 – Thousand Oaks
April 20 – Santa Barbara
April 20 – San Diego

SANTA BARBARA—As Earth Day approaches, a California organization reminds us that population growth is the fundamental environmental problem.

“The consequences of that growth are all around us—loss of open space, air and water pollution, traffic congestion, and never-ending sprawl,” said Diana Hull, president of Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS). “Habitat loss due to population growth is the greatest threat to wildlife.”

Since the first Earth Day in 1970, California’s population has soared, doubling to its current level of 38 million. The increase is equivalent to adding the entire populations of Ireland, Norway, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua to the state.

California has some of the most varied wildlife habitat on earth, boasting more endemic species than any other state, but rapid population growth imperils this extraordinary biodiversity and has resulted in the listing of 134 species as threatened or endangered.

Since 1970, the U.S. population has increased from 203 million to 304 million, but unlike the situation in 1970, two-thirds of today’s U.S. population growth is from immigration, according to the Census Bureau. The numbers of illegal immigrants in the United States is just a guess, and many experts claim the number is twice or more than government estimates.

“Modern environmental groups look for safe, politically correct, solutions, even if they are ineffective,” Hull stated. “Massive legal and illegal immigration threatens the environmental gains for which we have worked so hard, but environmental groups choose to ignore it. We sorely miss the leadership of past environmental luminaries who had the courage to put the environment first and politics second.”

The founder of Earth Day, the late Sen. Gaylord Nelson, stated, “In this country, it’s phony to say ‘I’m for the environment but not for limiting immigration.’” The late David Brower, a CAPS Advisory Board member, noted, “Overpopulation is perhaps the biggest problem facing us, and immigration… has to be addressed.”

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Californians for Population Stabilization, 1129 State Street. Suite 3-D, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Email: [email protected] Phone: 805-564-6626 Fax: 805-564-6636 Web: www.capsweb.org