Maximizing U.S. Population?

Abstract

With regard to the special section on “Human-dominated ecosystems” ([25 July, pp. 485–525][1]), who will be brave enough to echo the 25-year-old call of the President's Commission on Population Growth and the American Future to stabilize this country's population, which was about 205 million in 1972 ([1][2])? Congressional disregard of the commission's admonition that immigration policy would have to respect demographic goals means that, instead of leveling off at 240 million people by the year 2030 and then slowly declining ([2][3]), the U.S. population will probably reach 500 million by mid-21st century ([3][4]). It has become “politically incorrect” to present the data showing that immigrant women now contribute nearly 18% of all births nationally (making the difference between well-below replacement fertility and well-above) and nearly 50% of births in California ([4][5]). (The year 2000 census will likely not measure this source of population growth because there is no question asking for the birthplace of parents.) These data portend a substantial increase in childbearing-age population by 2010. By choosing to maximize rather than optimize population, our political leaders have sealed our ecological fate. 1. [↵][6]President's Commission on Population Growth and the American Future, Final Report to President Nixon, Congress and the American People (U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1972). 2. [↵][7]L. Bouvier and L. Grant, How Many Americans? (Sierra Club, San Francisco, 1994), p. 65. 3. [↵][8]1. D. Ahlburg, 2. J. Vaupel , Demography 27, 639 (1990). [OpenUrl][9][PubMed][10][Web of Science][11] 4. [↵][12]B. M. Burke, Populat. Environ. 19 , 15 (1997). [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.277.5325.485 [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #ref-2 [4]: #ref-3 [5]: #ref-4 [6]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [7]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text [8]: #xref-ref-3-1 View reference 3 in text [9]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DDemography%26rft.stitle%253DDemography%26rft.issn%253D0070-3370%26rft.aulast%253DAhlburg%26rft.auinit1%253DD.%2BA.%26rft.volume%253D27%26rft.issue%253D4%26rft.spage%253D639%26rft.epage%253D652%26rft.atitle%253DAlternative%2Bprojections%2Bof%2Bthe%2BU.S.%2Bpopulation.%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F2249750%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [10]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=2249750&link_type=MED&atom=%2Fsci%2F277%2F5333%2F1745.5.atom [11]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=A1990EF79300010&link_type=ISI [12]: #xref-ref-4-1 View reference 4 in text