As of Monday August 8, humans will have officially used up all the resources Earth can regenerate in a year.
The day is known as ‘overshoot day’, and this year it’s happening five days earlier than in 2015 – which means we just burnt through a sustainable amount of resources in less time than ever before.
If we continue to live the way we are right now, as a global population, we would require more than 1.6 planets to meet our demands.
If everyone in the world lived like Americans, we’d need 4.8 planets to have enough to go around – Australians are even worse, using up 5.4 planets worth of resources each year.
Overshoot day is calculated by the Global Footprint Network each year, using United Nations data on thousands of economic sectors, such as fisheries, forestry, transport, and energy production.
When we talk about resources, it’s not just water, land, and food – it also refers to things like carbon storage, so we’ve now reached a point where we’re pumping more CO2 into the atmosphere than can be reabsorbed by forests and oceans.
“Carbon emissions are the fastest growing contributor to ecological overshoot, with the carbon footprint now making up 60 percent of humanity’s demand on nature,” a press release from the Global Footprint Network explains.
The network has calculated Earth’s overshoot day dating back to the 1960s, and has shown that, up until 1970, we were only using as many resources as the planet could sustainably reproduce. In fact, in 1961, we were only using three-quarters of our annual resources.
But in 1970, we burnt through our annual resources by 23 December, and every year since then it’s become earlier and earlier.
The good news is that the advancement of the date is gradually slowing down. On average, since the 1970s, Earth Overshoot Day has moved three days earlier per year, but over the past five years, it’s slowed to less than one day a year.
And the even better news is that society is finally weaning itself off of fossil fuels. Last year, Costa Rica managed to power the entire country with 100 percent renewables for 75 days in a row.
Germany was powered by 95 percent renewable electricity last year, and Portugal was able to run for four straight days without any fossil fuels. In many countries, renewable energy is now cheaper than fossil fuels.
It’s not just CO2 emissions that are on the decline. China has also committed to reducing its citizens’ zealous meat consumption by 50 percent by 2030, which is estimated to stop the equivalent of 1 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions. And many cities are making big steps towards getting rid of single-use plastic waste.
There are still significant challenges ahead – namely the fact that Earth’s population is expected to swell to 11.2 billion by the end of the century – but we’re slowly, slowly reducing our toll on the planet.
Maybe next year will become the first year in more than four decades that we push that overshoot date back a few days.
onlooker on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 12:42 pm
Ah and the article was being forthright and direct but then the proverbial feel good disclaimer. Then the real head scratcher “Maybe next year will become the first year in more than four decades that we push that overshoot date back a few days.” I wonder how that will happen in a world that keeps churning out babies and has been conditioned to see the world via materialism and consumerism. This statistic will keep getting worse until world civilization collapses and/or they’re is a substantial die off
Apneaman on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 1:01 pm
Ha! That country where I was born and happen to live in, Canada, is not on the list of planet destroying mofo’s. That’s probably because of my great efforts to stop consuming.
Good thing for me internet usage has no negative effect on the biosphere or else I’d be in the dog house.
Do I emit CO2 when I surf the internet?
“Using the internet means using energy and therefore emitting CO2. The emission level of course depends on the way the energy used is generated.
Planet network
For instance, you use energy:
when you consult your e-mails;
when you look for something on the internet;
when you update your Facebook status.
Whenever you surf the internet, you also call upon a mass of information that is stored on servers in data centres. These guzzle huge amounts of energy!
The internet: greedier than you might think!
Using the internet produces considerable CO2 emissions. In Europe, information and communication technology (ICT) accounts for around 2 % of greenhouse gas emissions. By 2020 this figure is expected to rise by 10 % to 2.2 % of worldwide emissions.
An e-mail of one megabyte (1 MB) that is read on the screen for five minutes and not printed causes a total of 20 g of CO2. Reading twenty e-mails a day for one year corresponds to the CO2 that is emitted when you travel a good 1,000 km by car.
Looking for an internet address costs 3.4 Wh, which means around 0.8 g CO2 equivalent. However, that goes up to 10 g if the search is carried out via a search engine and produces five results. Assuming that a surfer searches on the internet an average of 2.6 times a day, then this may be said to emit 9.9 kilos of CO2 equivalents per year.
Data centres use a lot of power, too. In 2010 these centres, with their millions of servers, accounted for between 1.1 and 1.5 % of all the power used in the world. And did you know that one of the Microsoft data centres in the US uses 48 megawatts/h per year? That is the equivalent of the capacity used by 40,000 houses.
To serve its hundreds of millions of users, Facebook uses around 60,000 servers that operate around the clock and several thousand servers to store data. Running this entire installation takes a capacity of 18 megawatts (MW), which corresponds to consumption of at least 200,000,000 kWh per year. That is the energy that just over 70,000 Brussels families would use in a year! The Facebook data centres emit 120,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, which is the equivalent of just over 10 million journeys right round the Brussels ring road (75 km) in an average car that emits 150 g of CO2/km.”
http://www.energuide.be/en/questions-answers/do-i-emit-co2-when-i-surf-the-internet/69/
Damn, am I every guilty! Hey, I know, I’ll just change my belief system to one where we make up our own science N stuff that blames everything on the sun & muslims. Boy, do I ever feel better now.
CO2 emissions from the
Internet today (tons) – live
http://www.internetlivestats.com/watch/co2-emissions/
It’s not me, it’s not you and it’s most definitely, 110%, no fucking way not CO2.
sidzepp on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 1:12 pm
A symptom of the desperate struggle for finite resources.
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/06/refugees-global-peace-index/396122/
ghung on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 1:29 pm
“And the even better news is that society is finally weaning itself off of fossil fuels”?!
Lost me at that point.
Apneaman on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 1:50 pm
The Global Growth Machine Is Broken
http://www.declineoftheempire.com/2016/08/the-global-growth-machine-is-broken.html
GregT on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 1:51 pm
” the fact that Earth’s population is expected to swell to 11.2 billion by the end of the century – but we’re slowly, slowly reducing our toll on the planet.”
One of the more ridiculous things that I’ve read lately, and there’s been plenty of them. Denial runs rampant.
penury on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 2:09 pm
On the other hand the good news is: there is no good news. The bad news is; that they do not want you to know the bad news. On a finite planet, there is a finite amount of everything: humans have expended the resources of this planet, call home and tell them we are ready to move now.
JN2 on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 2:13 pm
>> Germany was powered by 95 percent renewable electricity last year <<
Nope, only on ONE DAY last year. Even that is cool however…
Boat on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 2:34 pm
Muslims are the fastest growing segment of world population. Is it their religion or lack of education that prompts breeding without birth control. If you scroll through fertility rates by country why do most of them turn out to be Muslim.
Apneaman on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 3:07 pm
Boat, out breeding the enemy is the oldest and one of the best strategies evolution has come up with. BTW, Muslims have plenty of education, it’s just that most of it’s religious and much of it preaches out group hate. All non muslims are the outgroup.
MORE CHILDREN = MORE GENES
http://www.jayhanson.us/kin.htm
Boat on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 5:21 pm
ape,
So you really think Muslims parents have sex and children for future fights with an enemy.
Apneaman on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 7:21 pm
Boat, high priests have been preaching such encouragement since time immemorial.
“Be fruitful and multiply”
Boat, most human behaviour works on the subconscious level, hence my constant reminder that the humans are not in control. You only think/feel you are in control boat, but that is an illusion. I feel that I am in control, but know intellectually that it’s an illusion. This fact has be demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt. This is why propaganda works, has always worked and will continue to work. The humans are predictable and easily manipulated by those who understand their programming. Boat, do you decide/make a conscious choice for every hardon you ever had or does it just kinda happen?
UK Muslim Dad: God Tells Me ‘To Be Fruitful And Multiply’, So I Have 11 Children On Benefits
http://www.weaselzippers.us/238155-uk-muslim-dad-god-tells-me-to-be-fruitful-and-multiply-so-i-have-11-children-on-benefits/
Boat on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 7:31 pm
It is easy to pass trade sanctions for bad behavior. Over population should be a trigger. Add immigration to that list.
Apneaman on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 7:44 pm
Boat, who gets to decide who is behaving bad and why?
Boat on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 8:08 pm
Depends on who is prez. After Iraq one would hope the bar for war would be raised. But I thought the same after Vietnam. Why? The US is the alpha dog of an overwhelming sized pack. That seems rather obvious.
Apneaman on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 8:47 pm
Boat, so it’s bullying and strong arming. Then why not say that up front instead of using their euphemisms? Euphemisms are a subtle part of the propaganda. They are used to soften the rough edges and legitimize and justify the bullying. Keep repeating almost anything and the sheep will come to believe it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kip2w-DceV0
Apneaman on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 8:54 pm
Hot Gulf of Mexico Hurls Rain Bombs at Florida and the U.S. Gulf Coast
“Rain bomb. It’s a new kind of severe rainstorm that’s capable of overwhelming a city’s flood-handling capabilities in just an hour or two. Of generating 2-inch-plus per hour rainfall events in odd places and at unexpected times. A type of severe storm that’s been enabled by all the added heat and atmospheric moisture loading resulting from human-forced climate change.”
“Lately, due in large part to an atmosphere and ocean surface that’s about 1.2 degrees Celsius hotter than 1880s values and related added atmospheric moisture, the powerful, damaging, and life-threatening rain bombs have been going off hard and heavy across the globe. Last week, Ellicott City was hit, killing one and generating damage that will likely take years to repair. Yesterday, about 21 people lost their lives in a freak flood that dumped 20 inches of rain over part of Macedonia. In Sudan on Saturday, the Nile reached its highest levels in 100 years as thousands of homes were destroyed and more than 75 people lost their lives. In Karachi, Pakistan this weekend, 50 percent of the city is without power and ten people have lost their lives due to flooding. In India over the past two weeks, more than one million people have been displaced and 100 killed in devastating floods. And now, a very hot Gulf of Mexico appears to be hurling a number of similarly powerful storms at the U.S. Gulf Coast.”
“Part of this prediction difficulty is likely due to the fact that the added atmospheric moisture loading — 8 percent since the 1880s and 5 percent since the late 1970s — due to global warming has increased instability to the point where new, and less well understood, types of weather are being generated. These days, there are new kinds of thunderstorms ranging the globe, and there’s a lot we don’t understand about them.”
https://robertscribbler.com/2016/08/09/hot-gulf-of-mexico-hurls-rain-bombs-at-florida-and-the-u-s-gulf-coast/
Apneaman on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 9:37 pm
I’m still paying .87 for a can of no name brand tuna. How long will that last?
Resistance Radio – Dahr Jamail – 07.31.16-podcast
“Dahr Jamail is an award winning journalist and author who is a full-time staff reporter for Truthout.org. His work is currently focusing on Anthropogenic Climate Disruption. Today we talk about the murder of the oceans”
http://prn.fm/resistance-radio-dahr-jamail-07-31-16-2/
Apneaman on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 10:20 pm
Coming to a country near you,
Venezuela’s death spiral is getting worse
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/08/08/venezuela-is-stuck-in-a-death-spiral-and-its-only-getting-worse/?tid=pm_business_pop_b
GregT on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 10:20 pm
“The US is the alpha dog of an overwhelming sized pack.”
The Alpha dog always gets it’s ass kicked by the next Alpha dog. Just the way it is Boat.
Boat on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 10:25 pm
ape,
Bullying? The Chinese are out of their 200 mile range. Are you mad at the Philippines? If the Philippines wants to give that area to the Chinese they should say so.
GregT on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 10:41 pm
“The Chinese are out of their 200 mile range.”
And who exactly is going to tell China that they are not allowed to go outside of their ‘200 mile range’ Boat. A country that is 7000 miles out of their ‘200 mile range’?
Boat on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 11:17 pm
greggiet,
Don’t try to think to hard. Leave water issues to a boat.
Apneaman on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 11:21 pm
Boat, it’s perfectly legitimate because they are just looking out for “Chinese interests”.
makati1 on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 11:28 pm
When you read anything about the Ps, remember that the last president was a puppet for the Empire. This new one is not. That is why I think things will change radically for the Empire in the SCS in the near future. The new president sees what is being done by the US and doesn’t want to be another Syria and bring war to his people. He is willing to negotiate the SCS problem with China without American help or interference. I wish the Us had a president that didn’t want to rule the world.
makati1 on Mon, 8th Aug 2016 11:54 pm
Supporting my above comment:
“President Duterte knows as much as the Beijing leadership that China is absolutely essential to the development of Filipino infrastructure.
That will open the way to joint Chinese/Filipino oil exploration. Of course, constitutionally it can’t be an equal share, but China can still get a very good deal in terms of production rights. Not to mention the deal can be expanded to international waters beyond those EEZs, involving other players such as Vietnam and Malaysia.
At the same time, China will not desist from building a first-class blue water navy with global reach. That’s the rationale for the sophisticated submarine base in Hainan Island and those ultra-controversial land reclamations in the Spratly Islands. Beijing’s overall strategy is to fully control security in the South China Sea – considering whatever the hegemon may come up with.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-08/say-hello-southeast-asias-new-silk-roads
Trade will determine the future in the SCS IF the US keeps its nose out of something that is NOT its business and its navy out of the SCS. .
GregT on Tue, 9th Aug 2016 12:54 am
Boat,
I believe what you were trying to say was; Don’t try to think too hard. I know, differentiating between to, two, and too, is rather complicated. I have full confidence in you Kevin. Who knows, after mastering 12 year old english skills, you just might have a remote possibility of coming to a rudimentary understanding of the basic Laws of Thermodynamics, The Exponential Function, and the Limits to Growth in a finite universe. If you really put your best effort in, it might be possible to carry out a somewhat intelligent conversation with you in about 20 or 30 years time. Until then, you will continue to make absolutely zero fucking sense.
Kenz300 on Tue, 9th Aug 2016 11:35 am
Too many people demand too many resources………yet the worlds population grows by 80 million people a year……every year………
Declining fish stocks, climate change, drought , water scarcity, poverty and unemployment are all related to the ever growing problem of overpopulation.
Kenz300 on Tue, 9th Aug 2016 11:36 am
Travel to the Real Philippines: Homeless Family w/ 3 Young Kids. Poverty among Filipinos is High
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgCVQqSK_Vw
Having a child that you can not provide for is cruel……..and leads to more poverty, suffering and despair…………
Child Beggars Of India- A Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spA3gb4Eiyc
The Effects Of Growth: Sprawl & Development – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA33sraoyCk
Sissyfuss on Tue, 9th Aug 2016 8:49 pm
GregT shoots, he SCORES!!!!!!!!
Apneaman on Wed, 10th Aug 2016 1:59 am
Here’s another big bad China story. Make a good war pretext – protecting national interests and all that shit.
Greenpeace sounds alarm over China’s long-distance fishing fleet
The government is subsidising an industry that is growing rapidly, fishing in waters as far away as South America and Antarctica
“China’s vast, long-distance fishing industry has expanded to more than 10 times the size of America’s and its growth is depleting fisheries and creating conflicts, according to a Greenpeace report.
From 2012 to 2014, the number of Chinese vessels involved in “distant water fishing” [DFW] – harvesting seafood on the high seas or in other countries’ waters – grew from 1,830 to 2,460.
The Chinese government is directly driving this growth by subsidising fuel costs and other expenses, according to the environmental group.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/09/greenpeace-sounds-alarm-over-chinas-long-distance-fishing-fleet
Except they ain’t the only ones.
Ask an Expert: Why is the global fishing industry given $35 billion in subsidies each year?
http://www.nereusprogram.org/ask-an-expert-why-is-the-global-fishing-industry-given-35-billion-in-subsidies-each-year/
90% of global fish stocks now over-fished or fully fished, says UN
http://www.marinet.org.uk/90-of-global-fish-stocks-now-over-fished-or-fully-fished-says-un.html
derhundistlos on Wed, 10th Aug 2016 2:42 am
Ape & Greg,
Why the constant desire to attack for the sake of belittling another? Very sad.
makati1 on Wed, 10th Aug 2016 3:25 am
derhund… there are a few who are either the village idiots or are spreading bullshit for the fun of it. Sometimes they need to be addressed and put down. There is not a “safe space” in this world where your feelings are important. If you cannot take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
Apneaman on Wed, 10th Aug 2016 3:25 pm
derhundistlos, I just went through the entire thread to check what you are referring to and the only person I replied to was Boat and it looks like a fairly tame back and forth to me with no name calling or belittling on either side – just a typical white boys debate. You’ll have to show me the quotes where I’m doing all this belittling, because I can’t see them. The closest thing I can see to belittling is me making fun of my own excessive internet usage and the great amount of co2 it pukes out (2nd comment in thread). Didn’t notice that eh? Is that what’s making you sad?
Apneaman on Wed, 10th Aug 2016 3:36 pm
Fires kill 4 people in Portugal, 1,000 evacuated on Madeira
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-portugal-wildfires-idUSKCN10L0W7?il=0
Carmageddon: 422 vehicles destroyed by inferno at Portuguese music festival (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
https://www.rt.com/viral/354785-festival-car-fire-andancas/
Apneaman on Wed, 10th Aug 2016 4:24 pm
The drought no one is talking about in the southeastern United States
“Crops are wilting in the fields in several states in the southeastern United States from an extreme drought that has crept up under the radar of most people living outside the region.
Farmers in northern Georgia, northeast Alabama, southeast Tennessee, western North Carolina and northwestern South Carolina are desperate for rain as harvest time nears. Combined with above average heat this summer, the corn crop in numerous counties has already been wiped out.
From April 1 to July 31, Chattanooga, Tenn., had only received 61 percent of its normal rainfall, a deficit of over 6.5 inches. August has started off dry in the Scenic City with a meager 0.09 inches in the first week. And throwing gas on the fire, the June and July average temperature was roughly 4 degrees warmer than normal.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/08/08/the-drought-no-one-is-talking-about-in-the-southeast-u-s/
Massive US Drought Leads to Worst Fears for Corn Crop
http://www.cnbc.com/id/48610120
Best to stock up on high fructose dopamine snacks before the price increases. I luvs me some lil Debbies.
Davy on Wed, 10th Aug 2016 4:54 pm
That corn has long since been eaten Ape:
Massive US Drought Leads to Worst Fears for Corn Crop
Patti Domm | @pattidomm
Friday, 10 Aug 2012 | 11:36 AM ET
Apneaman on Wed, 10th Aug 2016 5:52 pm
My bad.
JuanP on Wed, 10th Aug 2016 7:31 pm
Apnea, Uruguay has been having problems with Chinese ships fishing illegally in Uruguayan waters for over a decade. The Uruguayan navy has detained Chinese fishing boats on more than one occasion. Before that we had problems with the Japanese doing the same shit. And Uruguay is on the antipodes of China, right on the opposite side of the planet, so the Chinese are probably fishing illegally throughout the planet.
Apneaman on Wed, 10th Aug 2016 8:23 pm
Sahara-Like Heat Marches North, Sparks Scores of Massive Wildfires Across Portugal
“Over the past week, Sahara Desert-like weather conditions marched north into Spain and Portugal. This extreme, abnormal heat brought with it a rash of severe wildfires. And, unfortunately, these are exactly the kinds of conditions we should expect to see more and more of as a result of human-forced climate change.”
“An ‘Abnormal Fire Situation’ in the Context of Climate Change
Like many regions of the world, Portugal experiences an annual fire season. However, this year’s fires are far more extensive, they rage under hotter-than-normal temperatures, and they are being fanned by strong, dry winds. In short, 35-40 C readings are not normal for any time of year in Portugal. The fire conditions, therefore, are far worse than what Portugal typically experiences. But in the new world forced to warm by human greenhouse gas emissions, such conditions, along with a much more extreme wildfire potential, are far more likely to occur.”
https://robertscribbler.com/2016/08/10/sahara-like-heat-marches-north-sparks-scores-of-massive-wildfires-across-portugal/
WILDFIRES IN PROVENCE IN SOUTHERN FRANCE FORCE THOUSANDS TO EVACUATE HOMES
http://www.euronews.com/2016/08/10/wildfires-in-provence-in-southern-france-force-thousands-to-evacuate-homes
Apneaman on Wed, 10th Aug 2016 8:38 pm
Juan, they say all wars are resource wars. I’ve heard that illegal fishing makes up at least 20% of all fishing. Could be more. At this rate they better start their resource war while there are still resources left to fight over. Why dosen’t Uruguay sink one of the Chinese boats? What will China do invade? Not likely. I have been contending for a number of years that we will see less environmental regulation as the environment gets worse, not more. The regulation might stay in place and be ignored or rolled back altogether. Since the humans can’t stop themselves this is the only way to keep going. It will make operating costs cheaper in many instances, so it will act as a can kick in that regard. Eventually it will come down to a matter of survival not just profit. That’s when the pretending to give a shit will stop. This will be helpful for guys like trump. When we reach the survival stage even former warm N fuzzy tree hugging liberals will be voting for the strongman of the day.
derhundistlos on Thu, 11th Aug 2016 1:15 am
Ape-
Yes, I did enjoy your self-deprecating humor. I guess the point that I wanted to make is most of us are in broad agreement on the issues, and there are plenty of really wicked people deserving of our offensive attention.
Despite plenty of milkweed on my small farm located in northern Illinois, I have not seen a single Monarch butterfly. I hope others are experiencing a different scenario.
Cloggie on Thu, 11th Aug 2016 6:32 am
Talking about August:
http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/2016/08/goedemorgen_nederland.html#comments
Tonight it could be (very lightly) freezing in the East of the Netherlands.
Absolute novum.
Davy on Thu, 11th Aug 2016 6:51 am
Der Hund, I seen 2 or three Monarchs. I am worried too. Milkweed was abundant this year on my farm too. There has been less of all species.
JuanP on Thu, 11th Aug 2016 11:18 am
Derhund & Davy, I am glad to report that the Monarchs are back in large numbers in Miami Beach. I had been worried because we had had fewer caterpillars than usual in June and July, but this month we’ve had by far more Monarch caterpillars than ever before. They munched every single Milkweed plant in the gardens in less than a week and I had to pick hundreds of them and take them to the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens and Fairchild Tropical Gardens because there wasn’t a single Milkweed leaf left for them to eat. The botanists and entomologists there were very impressed by my jars full of caterpillars. I was very happy that they came back because they had me worried.
derhundistlos on Thu, 11th Aug 2016 11:27 am
Juan-
The difference is that Florida Monarchs do not participate in the 3,000 mile bi-annual migration to Mexico.
2016 my mark the year that migrating Monarchs are declared functionally extinct? It sure looks that way.
Another win for mankind.
derhundistlos on Thu, 11th Aug 2016 11:33 am
Juan-
Kindly forgive my oversight of your important self-less act relocating Monarch caterpillars to local botanical gardens.
Job well done!!! Juan karma: +1
JuanP on Thu, 11th Aug 2016 11:40 am
Derh, There is no doubt in my mind that the Monarchs’ migrations have their days counted. I enjoy having them around, but I don’t fool myself for one second about what their future, and ours, will be. I am not trying to save humanity or the Monarchs; I am just an acutely depressed bastard who is trying to save himself. 😉
energyskeptic on Thu, 11th Aug 2016 1:21 pm
overshoot.org’s “solutions” are host a vegetarian dinner party, lower household energy consumption, telecommute/walk/bike and reduce paper waste. What abject ridiculous pablum – no mention of not having any children or just one. Yet you KNOW the staff there is super aware of the population issue, the very meaning of OVERSHOOT. The need for funding precludes honesty from all organizations, beginning with the Sierra Club (reasons 4, 5, and 10 of 20 reasons) in post “Why did everyone stop talking about Population & Immigration?” at http://energyskeptic.com/2016/why-are-population-immigration-taboo-topics/
4) Feminists and Human-rights groups took over the Sierra Club
After feminists and human-rights advocates were put on the population committee at the Sierra Club, they fought to have empowerment of women as the main goal. Dave Foreman was on the committee and opposed this since the goal was population stabilization and then reduction. Empowering women might be a key path to that goal, but was not the goal itself.
The newcomers replied that any implied restrictions, such as a goal of population stabilization, was an assault on women rights to choose how many children they had. The mere mention of limits to growth was coercive.
The takeover of the Sierra Club population platform by people unaware or unable to understand “The Limits to Growth” and “The Tragedy of the Commons” was a tragedy. The Sierra Club was instrumental in making the topic of population taboo and politically incorrect.
Another big factor in why the Sierra club abandoned it’s population position was because David Gelbaum, who had given them over $100 million dollars, demanded they take this position or he wouldn’t continue to give them large donations (Weiss).
Since the 1980s there’s been little media attention to population growth, and close to none since 1994.
Not only did the Sierra Club and other environmental groups stop writing about population issues, they stopped reminding people that overpopulation is responsible for every single problem they were trying to “solve”. Clearly all of these problems would be reduced if there were fewer people:
Climate change
Oceans: acidification, overfishing, pollution
(Rain)forest destruction for agriculture, cattle, construction
Biodiversity loss (6th mass extinction)
Providing a good education to children everywhere
Feeding everyone
Making jobs available for record numbers of unemployed youth
Martha Campbell puts this even more strongly – she sees hostility towards mentioning the population question due to universities teaching students that even discussing the connection between population and environment is not a tolerable topic of discussion and politically incorrect to even suggest that slowing population growth might protect the environment for future generations.
5) Cornucopian and Leftists Environmentalists also destroyed immigration and population stabilization goals
You’d think the Left would support conservation, but there are splinters who saw talking about overpopulation as blaming the world’s poor for their plight. Better to stop wealthy countries from consuming so much.
In 1998 the Bay Area Marxist group “Political Ecology Group” succeeded in killing a Sierra Club immigration-lowering initiative. Leftist ideologues also suppressed talk about overpopulation at the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment because Chinese and India’s attempts to gain population stabilization were seen by them as coercive.
10) The Sierra club and other environmental groups abandoned immigration level goals
in 1989 the Sierra Club’s stand was that “immigration to the U.S. should be no greater than that which will permit achievement of population stabilization in the U.S.”.
But in the 1990s conservationists feared alienating leftist and racial rights groups and dropped immigration to stabilize population from their platforms.
Since then immigration has grown immensely. Until 1965 levels were about 200,000 a year. In 1965 it leapt to 1,000,000, and in 1990 to 1.5 million.
Immigration is now the main cause of increasing population growth in the United States. Between 1900 and 2000 the population almost quadrupled (76 to 281 million), with the largest 10 year ncrease between 1990 and 2000 (32.7 million)
See posts “why did the environmental movement drop the issue of overpopulation” at http://energyskeptic.com/2016/why-did-env-movement-drop-population/
Apneaman on Thu, 11th Aug 2016 3:45 pm
Alice, what difference would it have made if the entitled white liberals talked about overpopulation or not? Just look at all the major metrics and it’s obvious that they are as growth obsessed as any dyed in the wool conservatives. They just dyed green is all. The humans are not in control – their biologly is.