Water – Much More Than Just the “Universal Solvent”
Chemists refer to water – H20 or H-O-H – as the “universal solvent,” because it is capable of dissolving a wide range of different substances. In fact, more substances or chemical compounds can dissolve in water than in any other liquid….
Human Misperceptions
Water comes from a faucet; food comes from a grocery store; electricity comes from a wall socket; light comes from flipping a switch; heat and air conditioning come from adjusting a thermostat; motor fuel comes from a gas station; cars and trucks come from factories; the myriad consumer…
Click here for a downloadable, printable PDF version The Other Soil Erosion: Long-Term Erosion of Our Productive Farmland Base from U.S. Population Growth  Introduction – Appreciating the Land That Feeds Us In the new century, sustainable agriculture has become a buzzword of sorts, and fresh, healthy (preferably organic), locally-grown food is an ideal if not a mantra. In the Mid-Atlantic …
Continue Reading
During most of human history austerity has been the norm. Only recently have some segments of world population enjoyed an affluent life. But these are very unusual times, far from the norm. It now appears human history can be broken into three distinct eras. First, the long march from the millennia of the hunter-gatherer economy to the time of the beginning and then widespread use of fossil fuels and other nonrenewable resources….
Continue Reading
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 activity – and its environmental effects – is reduced to a level that would be sustainable indefinitely. We are convinced that if present rates of population …
Continue ReadingAre you alarmed about rapid U.S. and world population growth and its accumulating damage to the planet’s life supports?
You will be even more so after viewing the dramatic, often depressing photo essays in the recently released work Overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Overshoot …
New NPG Forum Paper: Population Pressures on Soils Threaten Food Security
Analysis of human population growth and agricultural trends shows another vital natural resource is disappearing: fertile soil for food production.
After a January 2015 article in the journal Geology revealed that human activity is eroding soil “100 times faster” than …
Click here for a downloadable, printable PDF version This paper was originally published in July 1992, some 22 years ago when our population was 256 million. In that short space of time our population, now 320 million, increased by 64 million, an astonishing 25% growth in a little over two decades, or roughly 30 million per decade. The problem is …
Continue Reading
Half a century ago this year, Congress enacted – and President Lyndon Johnson enthusiastically signed – a law broadly amending the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. This 1965 Act set up a radically different and far more receptive immigration regime for the United States. …
Continue ReadingClick here for a downloadable, printable PDF version State of the Union Address: Touting More Growth with More People An NPG Forum Paper by David Simcox February 2015 INTRODUCTION The President’s annual laundry-listing State of the Union address on January 20, 2015 has already been parsed and probed for advantages and potential traps by major media, political think tanks, interest …
Continue Reading