Recently, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said that its member nations may not be able to meet demand as early as 2024; I think it will be even sooner. Are you tired of soaring fuel costs, food price hikes, dirty air, polluted water, traffic jams, urban crime and global warming? How about higher taxes, diminishing freedoms, and reduced quality of life?

Well, they’re really all caused by the same thing. Unfortunately, there seems to be a 700-pound gorilla in the room that nobody wants to talk about, and it is overpopulation.

Our planet has limited resources and that’s something we just can’t seem to comprehend. Mother Earth can support a lot of life, but humans have multiplied to the point that the damage we do has outstripped the earth’s ability to heal itself, and all sorts of problems and catastrophes are looming as a result.
Mother Earth can support a lot of life, but humans have multiplied to such an extent, and are causing so much damage, that the earth is no longer able to heal itself. As a result, all sorts of problems are catastrophes are looming, including mass extinctions, global wars over land, food, and other resources.

Many of us seem to think that getting a few more miles per gallon out of our vehicles, or adding some smog controls, or installing low-flow toilets and shower heads--along with those irritatingly harsh twisted fluorescent light bulbs--will save the planet. It won’t. By the time our country and the rest of the world switch completely over to the new more-efficient and cleaner products, population increases will have offset the gains. And the third world isn’t even thinking about many of these things yet.

We can only bore more oil wells, dig more water wells and pave over our farmland for so long before we run out of resources and space. As long as population is unchecked, everything we do to reduce consumption is simply a trade-off, not a cure, which will buy a little more time before the crisis hits. This allows us to procrastinate and dump the problem, which will then be even worse, into the laps of future generations. For example, our attempts to grow more corn for ethanol fuel already has resulted in a massive increase in nitrogen fertilizer run-off into the Mississippi River. That is killing the fish in the Gulf of Mexico and has resulted in a huge dead zone already--and we’re only producing a tiny amount of ethanol compared to what we need.

In my lifetime, the United States population has approximately doubled from 150 million to 300 million. During that time, many of the most desirable locations and best farmland in our country (as well as worldwide), have been built up and paved over. That was for an increase of 150 million. Now, let’s think about what happens when the U.S. population doubles again from 300 million to 600 million, say in the next 50 years or so. We then have to come up with housing, water, food, fuel, electricity, natural gas, and infrastructure such as schools, roads, hospitals, stores, airports, utilities, etc. for four times as many people as we had from the time the Pilgrims landed until the 1950s! And we don’t have enough of these things now.

If you want a sobering wake-up call, take a look at www.chippynews.com/worldclock.htm. This Web page shows the rate of population growth, along with a few of its associated problems. Will we continue to sit on our hands and choose to do nothing? Or are we ready to make some really difficult politically, and in some cases, religiously incorrect choices?

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Addendum to Blog
Posted January 16, 2008:


First, I’d like to thank the many folks who have taken the time to write. Even the nasty, abusive ones. I’ve written 39 blogs on this Web site, but this is the first time that I have felt compelled to provide an update or clarification to something I wrote. It’s apparent that some folks don’t know me or my motives, and have focused on some part of the blog that they don’t like, and they’re missing the overall message.

Now, a little background. I’ve been an editor of a 4x4 magazine and enjoy four-wheeling, I’ve raced, I like to ride off-road motorcycles, I like to fly airplanes and shoot guns. I’ve also worked with the major RV magazines for the last 20 years. Does that make me an enviro-thug?

I like big horsepower, going fast and having fun with vehicles, whether they are they diesel pickups, sports cars, motorcycles or planes. But our right and ability to enjoy these things is going to be taken from us because of overpopulation and the things that come with that, such as resultant high land costs, crowded roads and air space, overused trails, and escalating prices for fuel and other resources we need to do these activities. Does that make me an enviro-thug?

Why do you think the new Dodge diesel trucks must have all those smog controls which are expensive, cut fuel mileage, reduce performance and add weight? Because when the population gets too high and dense, the Earth can’t rid itself of pollutants fast enough and the air becomes bad. Again, if the population was much lower, we could all run around burning coal, old tires and our garbage, and the air would still be cleaner—because the Earth can heal itself and keep up with pollution up to a point. Does that observation make me an enviro-thug?

Over the years, nearly all the racetracks, off-road riding areas, shooting ranges and about seven small airstrips in my county and surrounding area have been closed—due to population pressure. And I don’t like it. Does that make me a Chicken-Little?

Supply versus demand is definitely having a major hand in rising costs of land, energy, and other resources. If the U.S. and world populations were, say, half what they are today do you think we’d be having these problems at this magnitude? No, prices would plunge. Does that observation make me a patsy for big oil? And do you really believe that wars are never fought over oil, land or other natural resources because of human demand for these things?

I live in a small condo, had one child, keep the heat turned down and barely use air conditioning, and commute on a motorcycle to save fuel. Does that make me part of the pompous, arrogant ilk like Al Gore, who lives in a mansion and travels in private jets and chauffeured limos to speak about the environment? 

I  realize that killing the messenger is a time honored method of dealing with news you don’t want to hear. However, in this case, ignoring the bad news will only allow the problem to get worse, with potentially disastrous consequences. It’s your call.