Senate immigration bill would cause devastating population growth!

SANTA BARBARA—July 13, 2013–While the immigration bill passed by the Senate has received considerable attention, little notice has been paid to the huge increase in population growth that it would cause. An analysis from the Congressional Budget Office indicates that it would increase the population of the U.S. by an additional 15 million in 20 years beyond previous projections.

“This population growth would have a devastating effect on the environment,” said Jo Wideman, executive director of Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS). “Greater human numbers mean more pollution, more traffic congestion, more sprawl, and less open space.

The United States is already the third most populous country after China and India. Unlike other industrialized countries, it is growing rapidly because of immigration. The population increase of an additional 15 million forecast by the CBO is equivalent to adding the entire populations of Denmark, Costa Rica, and New Zealand to the U.S. over the next 20 years.

“Population growth is overwhelming the gains that this country has made in energy conservation and protection of critical wild lands. Water shortages and energy shortages result, in part, from the increased demands of an increasing population, yet Congress is ignoring this half of the equation. Americans do not want this increased crowding and resource depletion, but it is being forced on them by politicians,” noted Wideman.

“An ever-growing human population crowds out the space necessary for other critters. The destruction of habitat due to population growth is by far the greatest threat to wildlife,” Wideman stated. The Fish and Wildlife Service lists over 600 animals and over 800 plants as endangered or threatened in the United States.

CAPS is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that promotes policies designed to stabilize the population domestically and globally at levels which will protect the environment and allow a good quality of life for all.