Opeds

2012 News Items

• January 09, 2012 - At the Crossroads of Sustainability: A Conversation with Bill Ryerson
  Imagine a country like French Guiana or Vanuatu – with human populations of 225,000 to 235,000 – emerging, every day! That is the conundrum facing humanity and the natural world. The human population explosion, multiplied by its cumulative consumption, represents what many believe to be the most significant challenge ever faced by life on Earth in billions of years. This is an equation that forms the basis for most rational analysis of global environmental issues. It is a starting point. In the absence of dealing with it, most other techno-fixes or alleged ecological “solutions” are unlikely to produce much traction.

2011 News Items

• November 11, 2011 - Population nothing to cheer
  In the 12 years since the world population reached 6 billion, a lot has changed. In 1999, decades of rising stock values, declining commodity prices, rising incomes and continued progress in the fights against hunger and severe poverty led many to believe that there were no limits to growth. Confidence was high that we could virtually eliminate hunger and severe poverty, and it was hoped that the world would act in time to avert some of the worst effects of climate change.
• October 31, 2011 - World population hits 7 billion, but there are easy ways to curb growth
  The United Nations reports that world population today will reach the 7 billion mark just 12 years after the 6 billion level was crossed. And if UN projections prove correct, world population will reach 8 billion in just 13 years and 9.3 billion by mid-century.
• October 28, 2011 - 7 billion? Hold the celebrations! Managing the consequences of a population boom
  According to the United Nations, world population will reach the 7 billion mark on Monday. More than one commentator has declared that we should "pop the champagne." But as much as we should revere human life, this milestone is more cause for concern than celebration.
• October 28, 2011 - 7 Billion and Climbing: The Population Challenge
  World population, according to the United Nations, will reach 7 billion on October 31, 2011, and judging by the coverage that the milestone has received in the print media, the challenge once posed by population growth has been solved. A writer for the Chicago Sun-Times even when so far as to say, "Hoorary! Pop the Champagne."
• October 20, 2011 - Famine, Food and the 'F' Word
  Earlier this month, the ONE campaign, a leading advocate in the fight against global poverty, unveiled a new PSA titled "The F Word: Famine is the Real Obscenity." Launched with support from AOL, the Huffington Post, and other media outlets, it's a provocative ad campaign that's bringing desperately needed attention to the human tragedy that is unfolding in the Horn of Africa. Everyone who cares about global hunger should view the PSA and sign the petition
• September 22, 2011 - Family Planning: 'The Best of Times, the Worst of Times'
  To borrow a line from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, support for family planning and reproductive health is facing, "the best of times, the worst of times." If you were in New York City during the past several days, one could easily conclude that prospects for family planning and reproductive health are on the rise, but if you were in the nation's capital or, worse, Dallas, Texas, one might easily think the opposite.
• August 30, 2011 - "Pro-Family Planning" Republicans?
  The evolution of American politics may have led to the extinction of "liberal Republicans," but traces of that extinct breed are still to be found in the GOP's gene pool. While their numbers have shrunk rather dramatically, a fair number of Republicans, particularly among the rank-and-file, still care about various "liberal" causes.
• August 23, 2011 - The Perry Principle
  There's a powerful new idea that's gaining acceptance. For lack of a better name, let's call it the Perry Principle. And the idea is very simple: reality is just a theory. In the past few weeks, the charismatic governor of Texas has dominated the headlines with his public assertions that evolution is just a theory, and that the jury is still out on the question of whether human activity is responsible for climate change. Perry, unfortunately, is just the latest and most prominent public figure to call scientifically accepted ideas into question.
• August 16, 2011 - Perry: I'm Against It
  Consistency may not be a moral virtue, but when it comes to the religious right it qualifies as a political virtue, especially when it comes to the reproductive health and rights of women. Thus it came as no surprise today that Gov. Perry publicly reversed his longstanding support for requiring girls to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), a commonly sexually transmitted disease that is the principal cause of cervical cancer.