Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

GUEST COLUMN:

What is the right size for America?

Quality of life is declining in many American cities — and not just because of inflation or rising crime.

Our cities are overcrowded. U.S. population density has increased by 46% since 1982, according to the Census Bureau. As a result, the average commuter now spends about 54 hours per year stuck in traffic, nearly triple the 20 hours of yearly traffic that the average driver faced in 1982. Urban tree cover is vanishing at a rate of 175,000 acres — nearly the size of all five New York City boroughs combined — per year, according to the U.S. Forest Service. City and even suburban residents are having to travel farther and farther to get away and spend time in nature.

The consequences of this sprawl, on both the environment and our collective mental well-being, will only grow more dire if the population continues to surge. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. population has been growing at a rate of 2 million people per year over the past 50 years and is expected to reach a staggering 400 million people by 2058.

This pace of growth isn’t sustainable. A recent report by the Center for American Progress found that “every 30 seconds, a football field worth of America’s natural areas disappears to roads, houses, pipelines and other development.” It also stated, in no uncertain terms, that “human activities are causing the persistent and rapid loss of America’s natural areas. The human footprint in the continental United States grew by more than 24 million acres from 2001 to 2017.”

A recent resolution in the U.S. Senate reached the same conclusion. It warned that “development has destroyed half of our wetlands. More than 12,000 plant and animal species are currently at risk of extinction. Our oceans have seen dramatic reductions in coral reefs, mangroves and fishes. And nearly a third of North American birds have disappeared since 1970.”

We’re living far beyond our means, ecologically speaking.

Consider the findings of the Global Footprint Network, which measures the amount of natural resources that each country consumes compared with its “biocapacity” — the amount of natural resources available. The 332 million people in the United States use about 2.35 times more natural resources than are available in this country. Stated differently, given current American lifestyles and consumption patterns, the United States could sustainably support only 140 million people.

Only by importing and exploiting resources from other parts of the world does the U.S. population support itself, which of course has severe negative environmental impacts across the planet.

Americans have long celebrated and cherished our country’s natural beauty — its spacious skies, amber waves of grain, purple mountain majesties, and fruited plains. But that beauty is vanishing fast due to rapid population growth.

When U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson launched the first “Earth Day” in 1970 to raise awareness of the consequences of constant growth, the U.S. population totaled 205 million. We will more than double that figure this century, unless our leaders course-correct and stabilize the population.

Gary Wockner, Ph.D., is a global environmental activist, scientist, and writer specializing in river and water protection, climate change and population stabilization.