COMMENTARY:  by NPG President Donald Mann

            With the decennial U.S. Census formally starting this week there, are countless stories in the national press about how crucial it is that we count every person.  NPG agrees that participation by every citizen and household is important if we are going to get a true grasp of the number of people that presently reside in our country, compete for our limited resources and intensify our nation’s environmental problems.       

            However, with the Census now prominent in the news, Americans will also be subject to countless erroneous stories about the presumed positive benefits of adding tens of millions of new people to our population every decade.  These news stories will only contribute to the false sense of security that rising population numbers will mean more prosperous times ahead. 

            Nothing could be farther from the truth.

            One story which ran on AOL News this week feeds the “growth is good” propaganda.  Written by Joel Kotkin, a presidential fellow at Chapman University in Orange, CA, as a preview to his forthcoming book, “The Next Hundred Million:  America in 2050” the article presents a quixotic view of our nation’s future.

            Mr. Kotkin’s premise revolves around his statement that “From 2000 to 2050, the U.S. will add another 100 million to its population, based on census and other projections, putting the country on a growth track far faster than most other major nations in the world.  And with that growth – driven by a combination of higher fertility rates and immigration – will come a host of relative economic and social benefits.”

            Mr. Kotkin inaccurately praises America’s growth by stating, “…in advanced countries, a rapidly aging or decreasing population does not bode well for societal or economic health, whereas a growing one offers the hope of expanding markets, new workers and entrepreneurial innovation.” 

            Quite obviously, the professor is totally unaware of the volumes of study which refute such statements.  It is absolutely imperative that America start now to reverse our population growth and create an economy that will be sustainable indefinitely, in a sound and healthy environment.  That will only be possible with a smaller – not larger – population.

            In addition, Mr. Kotkin’s AOL article lauds the fact that “compared to other advanced countries, America still boasts the highest fertility rate:  50 percent higher than Russia, Germany or Japan, and well above that of China, Italy, Singapore, Korea and virtually all of eastern Europe.”  Clearly, in Mr. Kotkin’s logic, a declining population means a declining nation.  He displays his hopes for America’s future in writing, “In contrast, in the United States, roughly three-quarters of young people report they plan to have offspring.  Such individual decisions suggest that America, for all its problems, is diverging from its prime competitors, placing its faith in a future that can accommodate 100 million more people.”

            There are so many things wrong with Mr. Kotkin’s short article – most glaringly the fact that numerous projections show our nation is positioned to grow by 135 to 150 million people by 2050, not just 100 million – that it is hard to imagine that his book will be taken seriously by scholars.  Unfortunately, in getting his article posted on AOL News, which reaches tens of millions of Americans, his wrong-headed views may influence some people.

            Mr. Kotkin ends his AOL article by noting, “As author Michael Chabon recently wrote, ‘In having children, in engendering them, in loving them, in teaching them to love and care about the world,’ parents are ‘betting’ that life can be better for them and their progeny.”

            For all who understand the horrendous economic, social and environmental consequences America will face by mid-century if we permit our population to soar to 450 million, that would surely be a bad bet.

             

IS THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION COMMITTED TO IMMIGRATION OVERHAUL?

             After months of talk and activity in the White House and Congress, and with plenty of promises made to Hispanic, labor and other groups about enacting a major immigration reform bill this year, President Obama is starting to act a bit shy about following through. 

            The New York Times posted an article by Julia Preston last week noting that “President Obama said Thursday (3/11) that he would proceed with an overhaul of the immigration system this year if he could attract substantial Republican support.”  That ambiguous statement certainly leaves a lot of “wiggle room” and gives the Obama administration a potential excuse to delay consideration of immigration in this election year.

            South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham, the lead Republican working with Democrat New York Senator Charles Schumer to create what the Times called a “huge bill” has tied the fate of immigration legislation to the health care bill.  According to the article, Graham “said he had told Mr. Obama ‘in no uncertain terms’ that the immigration debate ‘could come to a halt for the year’ if the president moved to pass health care legislation by a method known as reconciliation.”

            In addition to the meeting with Graham and Schumer, President Obama held another meeting the same day with immigrant advocates to reaffirm that he remains committed to pass immigration reform. Yet at the same time, he “offered a sober account of the difficulties.”  A major March 21st rally is planned in Washington, D.C. which is expected to attract at least 100,000 people from around the country pushing for immigration legislation.  Click here to view full article.

 

NATION’S AGING POPULATION IS STAYING IN PLACE

            According to a story in the latest AARP Bulletin, our nation’s citizens over 50 aren’t all planning to pull up stakes and head to sunnier climates or golfing communities when they finally wind down and retire.  A good portion of them are actually planning to stay and relax in the communities they have called home for years.

            The interesting Bulletin article, written by Rob Gurwitt, notes “This trend to ‘age in place’ isn’t new.  Despite the Sun City stereotype, people over 50 have always been less likely to migrate than people in their 20s and 30s.  But the census will show that the number of older Americans and the median age of the nation have ballooned.  The extraordinary number of boomers, whose first members turn 65 next year, means they will be far more noticeable in the places they age than their predecessors.”

            Gurwitt cites Brookings Institution’s demographer Will Frey in revealing the fact that “the fastest growth in the 55- to 64-year-old cohort during the past decade occurred in Western states like Oregon, Arizona and Idaho, and in New England.  Even the state with that group’s slowest growth, New York, saw a 33 percent rise.”

            Between 2000 and 2008, suburban counties accounted for eighty percent of counties with the fastest-growing populations of people age 55 and over.

            The article also cited a report from the Pew Research Center that found “the lowest rate of adults changing residences between 2007 and 2008 [before the recession hit] since the government began tracking this trend in the late 1940’s.  Three-quarters of people who chose not to move cited family as the reason.”

            Gurwitt and other authors he references focus on how connections to family, locale and communities is a major factor in keeping so many people in place these days. He is on target in stating, “These ties and the ways they’re manifesting themselves will undoubtedly reshuffle expectations for what American communities look like and how they function.”   Click here to view full article.

 

POPULOUS CITIES AND EARTHQUAKES

            Recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile are a firm reminder that tens of millions of people live in hazardous areas that can turn deadly in an instant.

            In late February (only days before the Chile quake), an extensive article in The New York Times examined the potential disaster that will surely befall many cities if they are struck by an earthquake of sizable magnitude.

            In writing the story, Andrew C. Revkin focuses on the city of Istanbul where the “population soared past 10 million from the 1 million it was just 50 years ago” and which “some seismologists call ‘rubble in waiting.’”

            Revkin quotes Roger Bilham, a seismologist at the University of Colorado, who states that “the planet’s growing, urbanizing population, projected to swell by two billion more people by midcentury and to require one billion dwellings, faced ‘an unrecognized weapon of mass destruction:  houses.’”

            The article presents a stark picture of Istanbul, which is representative of so many older cities, where buildings are rife with glaring flaws due to poor engineering or construction.  Some effort has been made to make school buildings more secure but little progress has been made to address issues highlighted in an “earthquake master plan” drawn up in 2006.  As Revkin notes, “Carrying out its long list of recommendations has proved more challenging, given that the biggest source of political pressure in Istanbul, as with most crowded cities, is not an impending earthquake, but traffic, crime, jobs and other real-time troubles.”

            Just a few days ago, a mild 4.4 quake awoke millions of citizens of Los Angeles, CA, in the middle of the night.  A stark reminder that some of the nation’s – and world’s – most populous cities have been built atop major faults.  Click here to view the article.

 

POPULATION AND IMMIGRATION NEWS

 THE POLLS SHOW THAT EVEN MINORITIES ARE AGAINST AMNESTY                

            Many elected leaders believe that there is a giant political benefit to be gained by supporting immigration reform that grants amnesty/citizenship to the millions of illegal immigrants now in our country.  However, recent polls show that is not the case.

            In February, a Zogby poll of roughly 700 Hispanic, 400 Asian-American and 400 African-American likely voters found that, when asked to choose between enforcement that would require illegal aliens in the country to go home or offer them amnesty, 52 percent of Hispanics, 57 percent of Asian-Americans and 50 percent of African- Americans support the enforcement (return to home country) option.  A Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) analysis of the poll results concluded that despite the perception that minority voters support amnesty as a monolithic bloc, the reality is that minorities “want enforcement and less immigration.”

 

MONEY IN THE BANK

            Why such a push by local officials to get every citizen possible to participate in the U.S. Census this month?  The answer is simple – follow the money.

            A story by Carol Morello in The Washington Post noted: “The 2010 Census will determine how more than $500 billion in federal funds is divvied up each year, according to a new study that adds urgency to cash-strapped jurisdictions pushing residents to mail in their census questionnaires later this month.”

            Morello notes that the $500 billion figure is higher than the $447 billion the federal government distributed in 2008 based on census counts.  The difference is attributable to the fact that Andrew D. Reamer, a policy analyst with the Brookings Institution, “included the impact of federal stimulus dollars that are being sent out in response to the recession.”

            The dollar quest is also a reason why many local jurisdictions are going out of their way to make sure illegal immigrants (though often unwelcome in the area) are fully counted.  A related story in The Washington Examiner noted that “failing to count illegal immigrants, local officials say, will reduce federal funding around $1,000 a year for each ignored person.”

 

A REVIVAL OF FAMILY FARMS

            It didn’t start with Michelle Obama and the White House chef staking out a section of the White House grounds for a family garden, but their actions gave new impetus to families all across America to start tilling the soil in their own backyards.  Now, in communities across the nation, folks are sowing seeds, getting their hands dirty, nurturing their plants to life – and saving money at the same time.  It’s a win-win all around.  Indeed, in some areas, large vacant commercial buildings are being converted to greenhouses where indoor gardening plots are being rented.

            Concurrently, a recent Parade Magazine story told the tale of a new program in North Carolina which has residents in Rutherford County (with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country) teaming up with chefs who seek fresh produce for their restaurants in nearby Charlotte. The new “Farmers Fresh Market” program links the chefs with the farmers who grow both regular and exotic vegetables. Ninety local farmers are part of the program and reaping new profits.  The Parade article noted that, “In 1959, the U.S. was home to 4.1 million farms.  Today, there are just 2.2 million. Some 40% of American farmers are 55 or older, and young people aren’t exactly lining up to replace them.”

            Protecting family farms and making farming a profitable career for today’s youth are essential to our nation’s future.

 

TAKING A SUCCESSFUL IMMIGRANT DATABASE PROGRAM NATIONWIDE

            The Secure Communities program – also know as 287g – whereby local jails check arrestees’ fingerprints against biometrics-based immigration records held by the Dept. of Homeland Security, as well as criminal records held by the FBI, will hopefully be expanded nationwide by 2013.

            An article in The Washington Examiner by Staff Writer David Sherfinski highlights that the program has proven successful in many local counties because of two key reasons.  First, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), which is part of DHS, does the legwork in processing cases.  Second, the program does not require additional funds from counties already operating on tight budgets.

            John Morton, assistant secretary of ICE was quoted as stating that the government plans to introduce the system in “literally every single city and county in the United States.”

 

WHY ISN’T GOVERNMENT THIS RESPONSIVE TODAY?

            In an article last year, The New Yorker magazine reminisced about the first Earth Day, on April 22, 1970.  It related how more than 20 million people took part in almost spontaneous demonstrations in cities and towns across America.  It also noted:

             “Among those who seemed unmoved was President Richard Nixon.  He avoided the festivities and made no public comment on them. (One of his aides, John Whitaker, later acknowledged that the Administration had been ‘totally unprepared’ for the wave of environmental activism ‘that was about to engulf us.’)  Nevertheless, even Nixon seems to have got the message.  Three months afterward, he created the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and five months after that he signed the Clean Air Act.  The Clean Water Act, the Pesticide Control Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act all became law by the end of 1974.”

 

 NPG NOTES

 GOING ON THE RECORD

           NPG is constantly in contact with elected officials to ensure they do not take any actions or pass legislation that will contribute to America’s population growth.  In recent years, our members have been very vocal in making their views known to their U.S. Senators and Representative to ask them to stand with us and reject any amnesty/ citizenship legislation that would legalize the 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants that currently reside in our country.  NPG is grateful to have our members’ involvement as we continue to pressure our nation’s leaders to make the right decisions regarding immigration reform.  Recent petitions sent to Capitol Hill on this subject have elicited many letters in return and we quote from some below:

 

            “You should know that I am opposed to granting amnesty to illegal immigrants, and I think it’s especially unfair that the bill that the Senate considered in 2007 would have given amnesty to immigrants who came here illegally very recently.

            I’m also strongly opposed to the creation of a new so-called temporary ‘guest worker’ program that would bring millions of additional immigrants to our country to take jobs in industries where the overwhelming majority of workers are U.S. citizens and legal immigrants.”

                                   U.S. Senator Byron L. Dorgan
                                   (D, ND)

 

            “As you are probably aware, I have consistently opposed efforts in Congress to grant amnesty to illegal aliens seeking permanent asylum in the United States.  I have always believed that amnesty rewards aliens who are here illegally and serves as an encouragement to others contemplating illegal entry.”

                                   Congressman C.W. Bill Young
                                   (R, FL)

 

            “…We cannot ignore the many problems caused by the massive influx of undocumented aliens pouring over our borders.  The strain placed on our society and economy by these individuals is staggering.  We must also address the method by which we allow individuals to legally immigrate.  As a result, I have joined the House Immigration Reform Caucus.”

                                   Congressman Parker Griffith, M.D.
                                   (D, AL)

 

NPG 2010 SCHOLARSHIP DEADLINE APPROACHING

            Do you know an undergraduate college student who has a creative mind and who is interested in competing for a $1,000 scholarship?  If so, have them check out our 2010 Scholarship Contest at www.npg.org.  After four years of asking students to write essays on population growth, and last year challenging them to make the case to their Congressman on why our nation needs a U.S. Commission on Population Growth, we are opening the door to a new aspect of student talent this year.

            In this year's contest, students are being asked to craft a print ad that would persuade the general public to support programs that are designed to slow, halt and eventually reverse population growth.  Ads must be at least 100 words but no more than 200.  Text should be original and entirely the student’s work.  Key issues to be addressed are population size and growth, the birth rate, immigration (legal and illegal), amnesty programs, environmental destruction, natural resource depletion, birth-right citizenship, overcrowded cities, schools, or other issues related to the efforts of Negative Population Growth.

            Six final prizes, ranging from $1,000 to $500, will be awarded.  Entries are due by April 23, 2010 and scholarships will be awarded by August 20, 2010.  Winning ads will appear in at least one national publication.  Please go to our website at www.npg.org to review the complete set of rules for this contest.

 

 NPG POSTCARDS EFFORT CONTINUES

           The push to get NPG members to mail a postcard to their Senators and Congressman to sponsor or endorse creating a U.S. Commission on Population Growth continues. 

            The latest round of postcards sent to members from four states ended up with over 70% confirming that they had followed through on contacting the members of their Congressional delegation.

            Thus far we have reached out to NPG members in 12 states with this project and we are in the process of selecting the next target group of states.

            If you have already received your postcard mailing and sent them on to your Senator and Congressman, thank you.  If the pre-stamped postcards are still sitting around your house, please put them in the mailbox as soon as possible.  Finally, if you can return a special contribution to fund this project, please do so.

            Remember that we are interested in your sharing any replies you receive from your elected officials in response to your postcards or other population issue you may have written about.  Please fax a copy to 703-370-9514 or send a duplicate in the mail to NPG, 2861 Duke St. #36, Alexandria, VA 22314.  Thank you.

 

PROJECT 2010 CENSUS:  DISASTER AHEAD!

With Americans paying much more attention to population issues in this Census year, NPG has launched our newest educational effort – Project 2010 Census:  Disaster Ahead! – to get more elected officials and citizens involved in confronting and addressing the critical issues of population growth.  This project will run through the coming months and our goals include such targeted programs to:

• Compel the U.S. Census Bureau to quickly and completely project population numbers into future decades so that Americans can be more mindful of the growing population pressures they and our nation will confront in the coming years;
• Reach out to federal, state and local officials to ask them to partner with NPG in a“National Population Caucus of Elected Leaders” which can serve as a forum for sharing ideas on government programs and actions that can help halt today’s ticking time bomb of population growth;
• Take advantage of this Census year to highlight the critical need to control illegal immigration and sharply scale back legal immigration. At present, the great majority of our future population growth will be due to immigration causing dire problems for our nation;
• Educate more high school and college students about the overpopulated nation that awaits them. We must make them more aware that it is up to them to help us win this battle now, so that they and their children will be able to enjoy a decent quality of life in the coming decades;
• Get more national and local environmental groups to embrace reducing America’s population numbers as part of their agenda and goals. All too often many of these groups shy away from this issue for fear of having to take a position on legal and illegal immigration. However, we can not make much progress in protecting our deteriorating environment if we fail to get our population numbers under control;
• Expose all Americans to the huge costs of an overpopulated nation. It is important that citizens understand how tens of millions more people (remember, an extra 140 million more in just 40 years) will negatively impact America’s already deteriorating infrastructure and environment and exacerbate our already unsustainable deficits.

 

QUOTES

“The most important thing to know is that, fundamentally, the census is about building and rebuilding a representative democracy where divisive issues can be constructively debated.”

                                   The New York Times Editorial, March 8, 2010

 

            “After a careful and thoughtful review of the various aspects of the issue, we are opposed to illegal immigrants receiving taxpayer-funded benefits.”

                                   Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman

 

            “It’s easy, especially in tough economic times, to push aside infrastructure initiatives, including basic maintenance and repair, in favor of issues that seem more pressing or more appealing.  But this misses the point that infrastructure spending that is thoughtful and wise is an investment, a crucial investment in the nation’s future – and it’s a world-class source of high-value jobs.

            The great danger right now is that we will do exactly the wrong thing, that we’ll turn away from our screaming infrastructure needs and let the deterioration continue.  With infrastructure costs so high (the needs are enormous and enormously expensive) and with the eyes in Washington increasingly focused on deficit reduction, the absolutely essential modernizing of the American infrastructure may not take place.  That would be worse than foolish.  It would be tragic.”

                                   A Gov. Ed Rendell
                                   Quoted by Columnist Bob Herbert

 

WHY THE NPG JOURNAL?

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     The NPG Journal (offered free to all recipients) exists to give more widespread distribution to timely news stories and articles related to population, immigration, environmental and political issues that currently affect our daily life – or have the potential to seriously impact our future. 

     We realize not all news stories covering population issues will reflect NPG policies and goals.  One of our main purposes in creating the NPG Journal is to expose these items to a wider audience, and to draw attention to the fact that so many articles speak to immigration and population issues but often fail to address the central cause of many problems – TOO MANY PEOPLE. 

     Ultimately, NPG would like to see writers at all levels make the obvious (to us, at least) connection between environmental and resource problems and the growing number of people in both the United States and the world.  Unfortunately, most do not.  To that end, we comment as necessary to help our readers see those links in hopes they will continue to speak out on what we deem to be the most pressing issue of our time – population size and growth and its negative impacts on our environment, resources and quality of life.

     NPG President Donald Mann offers his personal insight and commentary on individual stories, especially those that challenge, confirm and/or complement our NPG Research and Forum Papers.  The goal of the NPG Journal is to greatly expand NPG’s educational programs.  NPG’s activities continue to emphasize the need for Americans to speak up on population issues and keep our nation – especially our elected leaders on the national, state and local level – focused on taking action to help resolve today’s immigration crisis and work to halt, and eventually reverse America’s out-of-control population growth.

     We welcome your feedback to articles posted on the NPG Journal and urge you to forward to us the e-mail address of friends you think would like to receive a complimentary copy of the NPG Journal on a monthly basis.  Contact us at www.npg.org.  

 

ABOUT NPG:

     Negative Population Growth, Inc. (NPG) is a national nonprofit membership organization with over 30,000 members nationwide.  It was founded in 1972 to educate the American public and political leaders about the devastating effects of overpopulation on our environment, resources, and standard of living.  We believe that our nation is already vastly overpopulated in terms of the long-range carrying capacity of its resources and environment.

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