CSWP Brochure

What's the Problem?

AN

OVERPOPULATED

WORLD

 Who can solve it?

WE ALL CAN

HELP!

“Unprecedented overpopulation and continuing population growth are making substantial contributions to the destruction of earth’s life-support systems.”

Paul and Anne Ehrlich,

“The Population Explosion”

CSWP

Committee for a Sustainable World Population

Mother Lode Chapter, Sierra Club

801 K Street, Suite 2700

Sacramento, CA 95814

Email: population@mlc.sierraclub.org

www.motherlode.sierraclub.org/population

Human Overpopulation…

The CRITICAL ISSUE

for Our World!

Our world, with almost 7,000,000,000 people, adds the population of California, or 38,000,000 people, each and every 6 months!

Rising energy costs and global warming are direct results of existing world population pressures and over-consumption of natural resources.  World demand for non-renewable resources is increasing rapidly.  A sustainable environmental future must become a top priority.

                                                  Courtesy of “Goals for Americans”

But there is reason to be optimistic!  The average global birth rate is decreasing from historical levels. Literacy and reproductive health care are important factors behind this trend.   Fertility rates have fallen in certain areas of the US and the world. Some countries have even achieved negative population growth rates!

Still, scientists say that global population is approaching the environmental breaking point or has already moved beyond it!

THERE IS MUCH MORE TO BE DONE!

"It is not possible to sustain population growth, or growth in the rates of consumption of resources, in the U.S., or in the world."            

Dr. Albert Bartlett, April 2005

Human Population Growth

A CALIFORNIA and   COMMUNITY Dilemma!

Over the next 10 years, California will grow by the population of another Los Angeles, through births alone!

Our regional underemployment, pollution, and poverty are all aggravated by population growth.

With more people, there is less food-producing land per family. Air and water pollution and toxic wastes are increasing at an alarming rate. Energy shortages, water shortages, soil erosion, and overfishing threaten future food supplies for Californians and the world.

                                                      Courtesy of “Goals for Americans”

Since the standard of living in California is one of the highest in the world, our local efforts to attain a stable population and a sustainable environmental future, such as supporting organizations like Planned Parenthood, have an especially important effect! Therefore, the solutions are under our control too, and not just the responsibility of others!

The world's problems are only made worse through continued population growth.  It is time to act!!

Population pressures are compromising the environmental health of us all!

YOU CAN make a difference!!

Unsustainable population growth is everyone’s problem!  The viability of our species, and of all living things, depends on our taking early and decisive action.

As individuals, we often feel helpless in the face of world and regional problems.  But each of us can  help assure a sustainable environmental future by:

·         Supporting expansion of education and health facilities which enables families to make informed choices on the size of their family.

·         Discussing population concerns with family and friends, and volunteering to help spread the word.

·         Voting to support opportunities for teens, and to improve reproductive health and opportunities for women worldwide.

·         Contacting your policymakers to promote family planning and sex education efforts.

·         Donating to organizations that provide family planning and sex education.

·         Stopping overconsumption of natural resources.

The mission of the Committee for a Sustainable World Population (CSWP) of the Mother Lode Chapter of the Sierra Club is to promote a SUSTAINABLE WORLD POPULATION.  Our goal is to increase awareness of the environmental impacts of population growth, and to help improve access to family planning, reproductive health, and sex and environmental education services. 

We offer a speaker's bureau, and we promote population awareness at public events, fairs, and conferences.

“Mother Earth Smiles on Planned Families!”