NPG Calls for White House Commitment to Study U.S. Population Growth
- NPG
- June 13, 2014
- Press Releases
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Cites need for Presidential Commission on Population as critical to administration’s priority to reverse climate change.
Following the release of the White House’s National Climate Assessment last month, Negative Population Growth (NPG) President Don Mann has called on the Obama administration to give top priority to studying the consequences of U.S. population growth.
In a letter to Dr. John P. Holdren, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Mann made a personal plea for Holdren to “use the power of your White House office to address another often ignored, yet critical, area of concern.” With the U.S. Census Bureau projecting that America’s population will reach between 420 million and 442 million people by 2060, Mann is seeking a formal commission to help shape a more livable and sustainable future.
“At the most basic level, a Presidential Commission on Population could reevaluate today’s ‘growth at any cost’ economic policies, formally assess the serious environmental effects of overpopulation, and expose the social challenges America will confront in the years to come,” Mann stated.
Mann cited the distinguished Rockefeller Commission on Population and the American Future (created by President Nixon in 1970) as an example of what we need today. He noted: “It’s not too late to revisit the Rockefeller Commission’s findings and bring them up to date, moving forward to create a national population policy.” He also observed that not following the recommendations advanced by that group “was a serious setback for our nation.”
To underscore the need for action now, Mann stated: “Unlike the climate issue – where ‘deniers’ openly challenge scientific findings – it is hard for anyone to ignore that our nation is already vastly overpopulated. The evidence is all around us.”
“I am convinced that as Americans face critical population-related issues every day – including urban sprawl, widespread environmental damage, a shortage of affordable housing, spiraling social costs, dwindling water supplies, and a deteriorating national infrastructure – there will be increasing support for a Presidential Commission on Population Growth,” Mann asserted.
He concluded by saying: “We’ve been on a path of continued population growth for decades, but it is essential that we take action now to slow, halt, and eventually reverse America’s population growth. A formal Presidential Commission on Population will greatly help us reach that important goal.”
