Zero Population
Growthof Greater Boston
Zero Population
Growth
| Volume 7, Number 4 | July/August 1997 |
Virginia Abernethy, anthropologist and Professor of Psychiatry (anthropology) at Vanderbilt Medical School, was invited to speak at Dartmouth College this spring by the Environmental Studies Program. In addition to her daytime speaking engagements in the classroom, she delivered this public lecture in the evening: Does the U.S. have a population policy? Do we need one?
Does the US have a population policy? Indeed we do, one of pro-growth. In fact we are growing at 1% a year, faster than any other industrialized country. While 84 countries around the world do have policies aimed at reducing population size, the Census Bureau's middle projection suggests a population for the U.S. of 394,000,000 by the middle of the next century if the present trends continue. The high projection and best estimates from other sources suggest one-half billion.
Our country's pronatalist policy reveals itself on several fronts, perhaps in no way more clearly than in the area of tax law: the $500 tax credit per child legislation now being introduced into Congress as part of the proposed balanced budget agreement is sending a pro-growth message; it puts a seal of approval on having the "extra" child. Still another indicator is our immigration policy. Currently we have legal immigration of about one million a year, including refugees, and illegal between 300,000 and 500,000. Although immigration currently accounts for about 10% of our population, it is responsible for 18% of our births. Not counting births, the immigration replacement level would be about 200,000 annually.
Dr. Abernethy then directed her remarks to three areas of concern: First, there is no more dramatic way that the stress from this population growth reveals itself than in the consequences for our environment: what about the act of paving over approximately 3 million acres a year of open lands for residential and commercial use? This transformation of land for human use extracts an enormous toll on such matters as soil erosion, which is occurring eighteen times faster than nature can replace it, loss of wetlands and other wildlife habitats, loss of productive agricultural land. There is also an enormous toll in the depletion of aquifers as water is pumped to meet human demands.
Energy usage has gone up 25% since 1970. Of this increase, 93% has been due to population growth. US oil production peaked in 1970 and world oil production is expected to do likewise in the year 2005. Expect oil to become more expensive and less available.
And where is this growth occurring? All communities are facing growth except in such places as North Dakota. In particular, California is growing faster than many third world countries. Likewise, Florida, Chesapeake Bay, The Pinelands of New Jersey are experiencing rapid population growth.
One matter that has been overlooked, up until now, is the fact that we have been able to mitigate the environmental harm we have caused. Our affluence pays for these costs, 25 billion spent annually for the clean air act alone, but how? Through more development and buying more products which produces the revenue needed to do this cleanup. So we are in a double bind!
Next, there are social and economic factors which are under enormous stress. Between 1945 and 1972 we had a growing middle class. Now the reverse is true. The growing disparity between rich and poor and the resulting polarization is creating an enormous alienated sector. In addition, the growing population is creating a larger labor force; however, only 15 % of immigrants are skilled and the remaining 85% unskilled workers are not even literate in their own language. Who benefits? The employers of labor as they pay lower wages and reap higher profits for themselves. Who pays? Our blacks and poor whites suffer disportionately because of immigration. Why? There are fewer jobs and less public housing available for them; also, there are more cutbacks in social services and various welfare programs which affect them. This leads to a larger dependence on the welfare system.
There is a feeling now that one cannot get anywhere within the current opportunity structures. The sense of opportunity is not the same now as ten to twenty years ago. Instead, there is a sense of alienation. We can see signs of this in the separatist movements springing up in many parts of the country whose members have lost faith in our government and wish to withdraw from the country. Also witness the apathetic attitude concerning one's right to vote: the last national election saw the lowest voter turnout since 1924!
And thirdly, what about incentives to conserve? As a community grows, what do you think happens to the motivation to conserve? Do you think that your community will really be better in the long run when you do your part in recycling and using low wattage light bulbs? If you think yes, you might consider the following points:
Our government is welcoming great numbers of people to our shores and, if we keep making room for more and more, there will be no gain. People are not natural altruists and will only do a behavior if they see some long-term benefit for themselves. So as long as a community keeps growing, what is the incentive? It is going to go downhill anyway: aesthetics down and taxes up! So why bother?
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Many people think that population issues are a dry subject and that a policy on such matters implies that the government is intervening on a private part of one's life. Also, some feel that we need more people because of the aging of the population.
So, do we need to revise our current population policy? Indeed we do if this country does not want to become impoverished and if we want to be strong and help overseas. We need to get some action from Congress! But do we see response? The media needs to link environmental issues to population. We need to get them to pay attention to what the polls tell us about how ordinary Americans and recent refugees feel about immigration: that we cannot continue to absorb the current flow. Remember that in 1972, President Nixon appointed the Rockefeller Commission to study the consequences of population growth for our country and reached the conclusion that the U.S. should welcome a population policy and plan for a stable population.
Dr. Abernethy concluded her remarks by emphasizing again that we need to put our money and efforts behind our Congress and get people elected who will have the clout to get laws in place which will stabilize immigration and insure environmental protection. We need to work through our lawmakers and institutions (schools, universities, courts, etc) and educate the media to be more accountable in reporting the underlying causes of our environmental problems.
Dr. Abernethy trained as an anthropologist, has also studied economics, sociobiology and medical ethics. In addition to her teaching at the Vanderbilt University Medical School, she edits the journal, Population and Environment. This public lecture was sponsored by the Environmental Studies Program at Dartmouth College.
"More than anything else, population growth is causing the rapid decline in the quality of life in America." - Carrying Capacity Network, FOCUS, Volume 7, Number 1, 1997.
The April 26 WBOS Earth Day Concert on the Esplanade provided another excellent tabling opportunity for ZPG. We had a strong member turnout and all had a good time talking with the diverse crowds. While it was nice to see faces that reminisced about ZPG 25 years ago, I was especially pleased to find that several of the young secondary school students recognized us. Some even mentioned having some of our population lessons taught in their classroom. Most who stopped to chat were sympathetic to our cause, but we could not shake the conviction of one gentleman who sincerely believed that we will cure our population problems by moving underground or settling the moon. There's seldom a dull moment at the table! Special thanks to our volunteers: Mike Hanauer, Annie Faulkner, Walter Branson, Linda Huebner, Jeff Herman, James Middleton, Chris Conty, and my fiancee, Beth McCarthy.
GET INVOLVED! I encourage everyone to get involved in a tabling event at least once during the year. Tabling is actually very easy -- you do not need to have all the answers, only a willingness to talk to people and to share what YOU think. At the same time, you will learn a lot from talking to other ZPG members and the general public, and from the plethora of reading material we have available. You can brush up on some alarming statistics or to get some hints on how to answer the skeptics and the tough questions. And don't forget -- we usually table at community events or concerts that are lots of fun in themselves.
If you know of an event in your community that we should be at, let us know! Or better yet, take charge yourself. Contact me, Howie, to find out where our tabling gear is.
Greetings. In carrying on Mike's tradition of having a chattering chair, I would like to introduce myself. I am currently an MIT student pursuing a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering. My interest in population has grown out of the realization that population contributes to virtually all of our environmental, social, and political problems. I most fear the loss of biodiversity and open space which results from our displacing nature, and the loss of our personal freedoms, a direct consequence of increased crowding and interaction with each other. In serving as chair, my goal is simple: to ensure continued grassroots success in the Greater Boston chapter. Of course, for this to work, I need help from all of you. My job is not to organize all of the events and write all of the letters, but to see that you receive the necessary support and encouragement to make it happen. You, not I, represent the lifeblood of this chapter.
In echoing a thought I had at the annual meeting, I would like to see every member of this chapter try one new activity this year. This alone could bring our chapter to new levels of success. Even the most active members would benefit from a little change of pace or broadening of their horizons. My commitment is already made -- to holding an office. I encourage the rest of you to make a commitment, no matter how small, and to follow through with it. For some of you it may be coming to a meeting. For others it will be writing a letter, arranging a speaking engagement, or coordinating a tabling event. Whatever it is, make a promise to yourself now and make it happen!
In the January/February newsletter, Mike Hanauer published a list of 28 activities that you can do to further our cause. This list contained suitable ideas for just about everyone, so dig it out of the pile, find it at our website, or call/email me and I will get you a new copy. I will also present some of these items in more detail in upcoming months. (For example, see the same January/February newsletter for a description of the speakers' bureau.)
Some of these activities (like writing a letter) you can do yourself. Others require coming up with an idea and organizing others to do the work. Please, please call me if have any new ideas, questions on how to coordinate any of these activities, or just need help in bringing your brilliant idea to the chapter. I will do my best to steer you in the right direction. Also, please remember that sharing your idea at a meeting is a great way to generate excitement and gain support.
Finally, I have added a few additional suggestions to Mike's activity list which I referred to above:
Howie Breinan, 617/225-8905, breinan@alumni.stanford.edu
The annual elections were held, with all positions essentially unopposed and all the incumbents were re-elected unanimously. Howie Breinan was elected the new Chair, replacing Mike Hanauer. Walter Branson and Dan Bloom will continue as Vice-Chair and Treasurer, respectfully. After Chris Conty stated that prospects for his future employment location were uncertain at best, he and Mary Van Vleck were each elected as Co-Secretary. To try to avoid uncontested slots in the future, John Bryant suggested we prepare in advance by developing a nominating committee. Frances Cameron offered a toast to Mike and thanked him for all his years as Chair.
The keynote speaker was Jeff Herman who began by noting that his travel bug started after college: within 10 years he'd circled the globe 7 times! He finally settled in Costa Rica where he worked for the United Nations, confronting the worst problems and offering solutions, and became the most active English writer in Central America. Costa Rica was a paradise when Jeff arrived, but no more: serious problems have since developed relating to pollution, rapid population increase, cultural corruption, (this includes matters such as the fact that honest people get fired; students study hard but learn nothing and the skills relating to critical thinking are neglected) etc. Concerning the world, Jeff sees a real crisis looming: the top fifth of humanity consumes 150 times what the bottom fifth consumes; he asks, "should there be a consumption tax?" As countries like China reduce the gap between the top and the middle classes, the increasing consumption by the middle will cause problems greater than total population increase would suggest. In noting the upcoming 200th anniversary of Malthus' famous essay on geometric population increase (1798), Jeff points out Malthus emphasized the resulting problems of the working class in particular.
With the population doubling while resources are halving, and the fact that as humanity's numbers increase, the likelihood of sharing decreases, isn't a crisis inevitable in 30 to 40 years? As this becomes apparent to more than a few, consciousness should grow; ZPG membership should grow ten-fold. Could population growth be responsible for climate change? The director of Arnold Arboretum at Harvard thinks such changes could be causing freak catastrophes such as this year's April 1 snowstorm.
Going back to his UN experience, Jeff notes that the UN believes the world's population won't top out until it reaches 12-15 billion people, whereas he believes the world is already over the 5 billion it can sustain with environmental prudence to other living creatures. In the Third World the average person is 14 1/2 years old and 5 are born for every 1 who dies. The first real world population survey conducted by the UN did not occur until 1962, and it took 15 years.
Included in Jeff's platform for his congressional candidacy: there should be no deductions beyond 2 children; the government should pay for tubal ligations; population "control" isn't a dirty word; flip-flop the military and the family planning/population budgets; eliminate the CIA (saves $58 billion). Jeff's not a "knee-jerk liberal" because he favors private enterprise and believes in smaller government. ZPG does not support or oppose any candidate for office.
At the end of the evening, Howie introduced himself and sketched out his goals for the upcoming year for Boston ZPG. He believes in education as the solution of choice and he sees how activities such as writing and calling make a big difference, even within already friendly environmental groups. The challenge is for each of us to do something more!
The next meeting will be held in Cambridge on July 21 at 500 Memorial Drive, an MIT dormitory also known as Next House. The only access to the dorm is from a narrow unsigned access road known as Amherst Alley. PARKING is available on Vassar Street, about 280 yards from the entrance. There is one handicapped parking space a bit closer on Amherst Alley.
DO YOU NEED A RIDE? If you do not have your own transportation, please call me and I will try to arrange a ride.
MBTA ACCESS: I will arrange for a car to pick up at the Kendall Square/MIT T-stop (red line) at 7:15 p.m. PLEASE CALL ME to let me know if you are taking the T so I know how many rides to arrange. I will let you know exactly where to wait for a ride. By foot, it is just over 1 mile from the Kendall Square or Central Square Red Line stops, or BU Central on the Green Line (by walking over the BU bridge).
BY CAR: From I-93, take the Storrow Drive exit. After coming down off the ramps and emerging from the short tunnel underpass, follow Storrow Drive through several curvy sections (about 0.7 mile), then, after a long straightaway (0.8 more miles), take the LEFT exit to Mass Ave. Go RIGHT to cross the long bridge, then to the third traffic light in Cambridge and make a LEFT on Vassar St. Park 1/2 mile down, across from a fenced in parking lot.
From Mass Pike or parts west via Memorial Drive: (From the Pike, take exit 18, Allston/Cambridge. BEAR RIGHT after the tolls, go through two lights within 25 yards of each other, then 0.1 mile across the short River Street bridge (over the Charles) to the next light, and make a RIGHT onto Memorial Drive.) Once you are on Memorial Drive at River Street (see the Mobil and Shell gas stations), go about 1/2 mile to where you will encounter the road rising over the BU bridge rotary (stay to the left and go up -- you are now on the map below). 0.3 miles from the crest of the rise is the next traffic light at the Cambridge Hyatt. Take a LEFT. 1/10 mile ahead turn RIGHT on Vassar St. Park before the athletic fields, 0.1 mile down.
AFTER PARKING on Vassar Street: Next House (red brick building) is located directly across an inaccessible MIT parking lot enclosed by a black fence (the lot is adjacent to the athletic fields). The entrance to Next House is on the left side of the building as you face it.
AT THE ENTRANCE to the building, knock and you will be let in. Follow signs to the dining room.
Questions? Need a ride from the T, home, or work? contact Howie Breinan, (617) 225-8905
Howie Breinan breinan@alumni.stanford.edu
Please see the meeting schedule for general information and other meeting dates.
