HJBlog > Population / Environmentalism

Thu, Jul 13, 2006, 2:45am Population / Environmentalism

(Last updated: Wed, Aug 16, 2006, 2:12pm)

ad an aggravating discussion the other day with someone who asked me "if I had time for the environment today." Of course, I do, as I waste far too much of my day on nonsense. But I wanted to ask him if he knew any environmental group that is trying to take on the issue of human over-population. He didn't know where I could look for such a thing, but also didn't see the correlation between population and concerns for the environment, which I can only attribute to his being a bit young and hasn't thought about these things from this angle before. But … if environmental groups don't seem to know the relationship (even if they don't state it outright for worry over public reactions) then what are they thinking? Gah. I plan on talking a lot more about population control at some point, but wanted to at least breach the topic today on here.

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Todd (Tue, July 25th, 2006, 11:42am UTC)

Some of us are thinking of having a 4^th kid…anyway I think the problem is managed growth…there needs to be a balance of the community…in the west there are no forest preserves between communities…the dollar is the determining factor not the quality…is the government unhappy about crowded areas or are they just going to see more tax revenue…

the picture does look like Phoenix…
Jeff (Mon, August 14th, 2006, 3:46pm UTC)

Hey, Todd! Good to hear from you on the blog.

I wish I could think of a good example of managed growth. Since my problem is with the "growth" part, and people aren't much good at managing themselves, I remain pessimistic. As you say, the dollar is the determining factor, and there's no real economic incentive to keep growth under control. At least in the short-term. Long-term, I think a smaller population stands a far better chance of being better off economically, but it'll require a shift in thinking.

Yeah, the areas in the south west are growing so much faster than they'll be able to sustain. The water wars coming up are going to get ugly. Back here, the Chicago suburbs are still growing like crazy also.
perry/agitatedString/whatever (Wed, June 25th, 2008, 2:52am UTC)

Mankind is destined to always have 'overpopulation' problems. The sad fact is mankind ALWAYS, and ALWAYS will, procreate in numbers sufficient to consume the available resources. If you have doubts then study the history of the NILE RIVER. Have a nice day. :)