Despite the fact that the US is the most wasteful of the developed
nations, and Aspen is a city with a high average income, the resolution
seems rather balanced. Note particularly clauses 1. and 3. I post it
here, with the complete rationale (WHEREAS...) following.
I know there are those who will see ONLY selfishness in this, but please
respond with debunking of claims, not just with emotions or moral
indignation. Voluntary simplicity is not freely chosen by the vast
majority of humans. Hence it isn't a viable alternative to proffer.
Involuntary simplicity is the most likely alternative in my opinion. As
long as human population expands, migration pressure will continue until
all habitats are trashed and predation becomes the universal norm.
Reversing population growth is the most humane choice in my opinion.
BTW, the US is the 4th most populated nation on earth.
Steve Kurtz
-------------------------------------------------------------
>NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That the City of Aspen hereby petitions the
>Congress of the United States and the President to immediately implement-with
>deliberate speed and by means consistent with the Constitution of the United
>States, the consensus of the American People and the President's
>Council-legislation appropriate to stabilize the population of the United
>States and insure sustainability: (1) that will encourage and promote all
>opportunities toward establishing and maintaining material and energy
>efficiency, social and environmental responsibility; (2) by a return to
>traditional replacement levels of legal immigration , approximately 175,000,
>all-inclusive, annually; (3) by requiring equitable wages and benefits for
>workers and community environmental protections to be part of all free trade
>agreements; and (4) by mandated enforcement of our immigration laws against
>illegal immigration, thereby promoting the future well being of all the
>citizens of this Nation and the City of Aspen.
>___________________________________________________________________________
>Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999
>
>The Aspen City Council voted 5 to 0 in favor of the following resolution:
>
>
> City of Aspen ,Colorado
> RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF U.S. POPULATION STABILIZATION
>
>WHEREAS: The population of the United States reached about 274 million in
>1999 and is growing by approximately three million each year, over 57,000
>weekly, the highest population growth rate of the developed countries of the
>world. Most European countries are at zero or negative population growth.
>(Professor Albert Bartlett, University of Colorado, Boulder)
>
>WHEREAS: The population of the U.S. is six percent of the world's population,
>consuming up to 25 percent of the world's natural resources. (Population
>Reference Bureau)
>
>WHEREAS: The ability of the United States to support a population within its
>carrying capacity is now strained because of population growth. Fifty percent
>of our original wetlands have been drained to accommodate growth.
>(Environmental Protection Agency) Ninety-five percent of all U.S. old growth
>forests have been destroyed. (Save American Forests) It is estimated that we
>have consumed approximately three-fourths of all our recoverable petroleum,
>and we now import more than half of the oil we consume in the United States.
>(Dr. Albert Bartlett) America's underground aquifers are being drawn down 23
>percent more than their natural rates of recharge. (David Durham, Carrying
>Capacity Network)
>
>WHEREAS: For each person added to the U.S. population, about one acre of open
>land is lost, causing a total yearly loss of about three million acres.
>America annually exports $40 Billion in food. If present population trends
>continue, the U.S. will cease to be a food exporter by about 2030. (Dr. David
>Pimentel, Cornell University)
>
>WHEREAS: The report of the Task Force on Population and Consumption of the
>President's Council on Sustainable Development (1996) said: "The two most
>important steps toward sustainability are:
>1. to stabilize the population promptly, and
>2. to move toward greater material and energy efficiency in all production
>and use of goods and service." The President's Council said, "�reducing
>immigration levels is a necessary part of population stabilization and the
>drive toward sustainability."
>
>WHEREAS: Population growth generated by mass immigration to the United States
>causes increasing pressures on our environment and forces local governments
>and communities to spend taxpayers dollars for additional schools, health
>care facilities, water disposal plants, transportation systems, fire
>protection, water supplies, power generation plants and many other social and
>environmental costs.
> (Carrying Capacity
>Network; Roy Beck, Immigration by the Numbers)
>
>WHEREAS: 70 percent of U.S. population growth in the 1990's resulted from
>mass immigration, comprised of approximately 1.2 million legal immigrants and
>300,000 to 400,000 illegal immigrants plus their U.S.- born offspring,
>annually. (Center for Immigration Studies, January, 1999) If mass
>immigration continues, the population of the United States is projected to
>exceed half-a-billion by 2050.
>
> (United States Census Bureau)
>
>WHEREAS: Excessive population growth is unsustainable. With a return to
>replacement levels of immigration, U.S. population can expect to stabilize in
>another 40 to 50 years, at best at 325 million (Dr. Albert Bartlett)
>Replacement level of immigration is approximately 200,000 per year.(U.S.
>Census Bureau).
>
>
>WHEREAS: A majority of Americans of all ethnic and racial backgrounds favors
>substantial reduction in legal immigration and a complete halt to illegal
>immigration. (1998 Wall Street Journal Poll; 1996 Roper Poll; Hispanic USA
>Group survey)
>
>WHEREAS: The people of the United States and the City of Aspen, Colorado,
>envision a country with a stable population, material and energy efficiency,
>a sustainable future, a healthy environment, clean air and water, ample open
>space, wilderness, abundant wildlife and social and civic cohesion in which
>the dignity of human life is enhanced and protected.
>
>NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That the City of Aspen hereby petitions the
>Congress of the United States and the President to immediately implement-with
>deliberate speed and by means consistent with the Constitution of the United
>States, the consensus of the American People and the President's
>Council-legislation appropriate to stabilize the population of the United
>States and insure sustainability: (1) that will encourage and promote all
>opportunities toward establishing and maintaining material and energy
>efficiency, social and environmental responsibility; (2) by a return to
>traditional replacement levels of legal immigration , approximately 175,000,
>all-inclusive, annually; (3) by requiring equitable wages and benefits for
>workers and community environmental protections to be part of all free trade
>agreements; and (4) by mandated enforcement of our immigration laws against
>illegal immigration, thereby promoting the future well being of all the
>citizens of this Nation and the City of Aspen.
>
>
>--------------
>Fred Elbel [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>-- Population and Sustainability:
>-- < http://www.ecofuture.org/ecofuture/populat.html >
>
>
