May 23, 2023

Feldstein Says Yes, and NPG Agrees (Mostly)

The Scientific American recently published an opinion piece by Stephanie Feldstein, the population and sustainability director at the Center for Biological Diversity. The article takes a hard look at the crises surrounding humans and points toward solutions to empower everyone in their choice to procreate or abstain.

Feldstein takes on the monumental task of speaking about the world’s human population by noting what is happening and sharing her thoughts. She touches on many talking points, including:

• Population in China and many other countries is declining, which is good news for the planet.
• Reducing consumption of resources in high-income countries is necessary but insufficient if global population continues to rise.
• A model based on degrowth and equity alongside lower fertility rates will help fight climate change and increase wealth and well-being.
• Governments must invest in health care, support caregivers, help people who want to work longer to do so, and redesign communities to meet the needs of an aging population.
• We need a rapid transition to renewable energy and sustainable food systems to halt human-caused extinctions.
• Policy makers must guarantee bodily autonomy and access to reproductive health care, gender equity, and women and girls’ education in order for population stabilization/decline to be achieved.

In the article, Feldstein offers immigration as a solution to a country’s aging population: “But despite how inevitable population decline will benefit people and the planet, world leaders have done little to prepare for a world beyond the paradigm of endless growth. They need to prepare for an aging population now while realigning our socioeconomic structures toward degrowth. Meanwhile, immigration can help soften some of the demographic blows by bringing younger people into aging countries.”

NPG, as an organization that focuses on population numbers in the U.S., agrees with most of what Feldstein lays out for readers. However, NPG does not see immigration as the answer for this country, as it is the primary source of population growth nationwide. We must curtail immigration by voting in policies limiting the number of legal immigrants that the U.S. admits annually and enforcing the policies that would deter those who would enter this country illegally. We must work together to slow, halt, and eventually reverse population growth in the U.S., which cannot happen without taking a serious look at our nation’s immigration policies.

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