NPG Statement on Population 



We Believe that the Optimum Rate of Population Growth is Negative 



We believe that the optimum rate of population 

 growth for the United States (and for the world) is 

 negative until such time as the scale of economic ac- 

 tivity, and its environmental effects, are reduced to a 

 level that would be sustainable indefinitely. 



We are convinced that if present rates of popula- 

 tion and economic growth are allowed to continue, the 

 end result, within the lifetimes of many of us, would 

 inevitably be near universal poverty in a hopelessly 

 polluted nation and world. 



We agree with Professor Herman Daly who has 

 pointed out that the human economy is a subset of the 

 biosphere, and that the current scale of economic ac- 

 tivity relative to the biosphere is already far too 

 large to be sustainable indefinitely. 



Stabilization Is Not Enoug h 



We believe that calls for merely slowing down rapid 

 population growth, or for stabilizing population at 

 present or even higher levels, are totally inadequate. 



Such proposals, while presented as a solution, fail 

 to address the central issue: how to create a national 

 (and world) economy that will be sustainable indefi- 

 nitely. 



At present or at even higher levels of population, 

 neither the application of science and technology, nor 

 simplifying life-styles, nor any combination of the two, 

 can offer any hope of reducing our impact on the en- 

 vironment to a sustainable level. 



We Need a Smaller Population 



We recognize that our impact on the environment 

 in terms of pollution and resource depletion is the prod- 

 uct of our numbers times our per capita consumption 

 of energy and materials. Thus, there are only three 

 ways by which that impact can be reduced: 



• By reducing the size of our population by a nega- 

 tive rate of population growth. 



• By reducing over consumption (in the United States 

 and other developed countries) by simplifying life- 

 styles. 



• By reducing resource depletion and pollution per 

 unit of consumption through more efficient use of 

 energy and materials. 



Population size is by far the most critical of those 

 three variables. Nevertheless, our present scale of 

 economic activity is so large relative to the biosphere 

 that all three measures are needed in order to re- 

 duce it to a sustainable level. 



An Urgent Need 



Over 20 years ago, when our U.S. population was 

 far smaller, (about 202 million, rather than our present 

 260 million), Professor John Holdren correctly saw the 

 urgent need for a negative rate of population growth. 

 At that time he wrote, 



"...What is surprising... is that there is not more 

 agreement concerning what the rate of change of popu- 

 lation size should be. For given the uncertain, but pos- 

 sibly grave, risks associated with substantially increas- 

 ing our impact on the environment, and given that 

 population growth aggravates or impedes the solution 

 of a wide variety of other problems... it should be ob- 

 vious that the optimum rate of population growth is 

 zero or negative until such time as the uncertainties 

 have been removed and the problems solved." 



A Population Goal for Our Country 



We must have, first of all, a nationally-determined 

 population goal for our country, accompanied by effec- 

 tive policies to achieve it. 



We urge Congress and President Clinton to set, as 

 a top priority national goal, the achievement of a nega- 

 tive rate of population growth for the United States 

 until such time as the scale of our economic activ- 

 ity is reduced to a sustainable level. 



We also call on our political leaders to urge other 

 nations to pursue a similar goal. 



Please help us build broad public support for 

 a national policy to achieve a negative rate of 

 population growth. 



NPG is a nonprofit, national membership orga- 

 nization established in 1972. We are the only orga- 

 nization that calls for a smaller U.S. and world 

 population, and recommends specific, realistic 

 measures to achieve those goals. 



Contributions to NPG are tax deductible to the 

 extent the law allows. As reported to the IRS on our 

 most recent Form 990, our fundraising and admin- 

 istrative expense was only 13.3 percent of our total 

 income. 



YES! I want to become a member of NPG, and help 

 you work toward a smaller U.S. and world population. 

 I am enclosing my check for annual membership dues. 



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Mail to: Negative Population Growth, Inc. 

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