The 40th Anniversary of EARTH DAY: Overpopulation remains the Overwhelming problem

Californians for Population Stabilization will participate in Earth Day events
           • Santa Barbara – Saturday, April 17 in Alameda Park
           • San Diego – Sunday, April 18 in Balboa Park

Santa Barbara, CA – April 7, 2010 – Forty years have passed since the first Earth Day, but the primary issue—an ever-increasing human population making demands on a finite supply of natural resources—remains the same. That is the message from Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS), a Santa Barbara-based environmental group.

“Human overpopulation is the fundamental environmental problem. Loss of open space, increased traffic congestion, never-ending sprawl, air and water pollution—these are the symptoms. Habitat loss due to population growth is by far the greatest threat to wildlife,” said Diana Hull, president of Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS).

Since the first Earth Day in 1970, world population has increased from 3.7 billion to 6.8 billion, and the U.S. population has increased by over half from 203 million to 309 million.

“Of course, now most growth in the U.S. stems from immigration and that has made some environmental groups reluctant to talk about population. Political correctness has trumped environmental protection. We sorely miss the leadership of past environmental luminaries who had the courage to put the environment first and politics second,” Hull stated.

“The population problem is the worst problem we’ve got. If we don’t solve that, we’ll solve nothing. Immigration and over-immigration is an important part of that,” noted the late David Brower, a CAPS Advisory Board member and the pre-eminent environmentalist of his time.

The late Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, who founded Earth Day, stated, “In this country, it’s phony to say ‘I’m for the environment but not for limiting immigration’. It’s just a fact that we can’t take all the people who want to come here.”

Census projections show that America’s population will hit 440 million by mid-century unless policies are changed to reduce immigration flows.

“That growth would mean huge environmental losses. It would be a tragedy, and we are fighting to prevent it,” said Hull.

CAPS supports policies to encourage replacement-level fertility and an immigration time-out in order to protect precious natural resources.

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