The Nourished Earth
In This Issue
Contribute Your Voice
Have something to say about sustainable development and stabilized population?
Wow! NECSP is growing by leaps and bounds! 
There is so much to talk about, I don't know where to begin. We've hired a brilliant new Grassroots Outreach Coordinator. We've been published again and again. Our membership is growing and our message is clear: "There is no sustainability without stabilized population."
Thanks for reading our newsletter and don't forget to tell a friend!!!
NECSP is thrilled to introduce you to our new Grassroots Outreach Coordinator, Sarah Harpster. Sarah has already shown herself to be a great addition to our team, and she'll soon be out in front of citizen audiences demonstrating the essential need to stabilize human population if any legitimate sustainability is to take hold.
SUPPORT SARAH'S WORK -- CLICK HERE
In her own words: "I am so excited to have the opportunity to work as your new Grassroots Outreach Coordinator... this position offers me a lot of what I am looking for at this point in my life. Having recently graduated from Antioch New England's environmental program, I have been looking for opportunities to deepen and broaden my knowledge of sustainability issues, to meet and work with people in New England who are striving to create a more just and sustainable world, and to apply my skills and gain broader experiences in advocacy work.
"For a long time, I have been exploring what it
means to recover ecological sustainability. It appears we will have to develop
ways of living in the world that are almost diametrically opposed to our
current models. We've all heard of the characteristics of this new way of
living, from reliance on local resources, resource & energy conservation and
shifting away from fossil fuel dependence, to decentralizing political power and
constraining corporations in their drive to maximize shareholder profits at any
cost.
"I have also been aware of the critical need to limit human population in
order to even begin a journey toward sustainability. The issue doesn't have the
luster of alternative energy options and global warming mitigation right now.
But just imagine how far we could go to address those issues if human
population could be stabilized!
"I see the critical need for
awareness and action on this issue, which needs to be considered
locally, nationally, and globally at the same time. I appreciate how each of
you has been committed to what may sometimes be a thankless cause, to call on
people to address an issue that is fraught with controversy and strong ethical
beliefs, difficult to confront politically, and often relegated to the background
of environmental discourse. I look forward to our work together and to making
real progress toward population sustainability in New
England and across the globe."
The Director's Corner: "From Population Crisis To Sustainable Solutions"
The following article first appeared in the fall 2008 edition of "The Maine Woods", a publication of the Forest Ecology Network.
In 1950, the world population was
2.5 billion. The great Amazon rainforest basin was whole and healthy. Maine had
just over 914,950 citizens and New England had 92,000 miles of roads.
Today, global population has
ballooned 146% to 6.7 billion people and continues to increase at 200,000
people per day. Maine's population is up 44% to 1,320,000. Global deforestation
occurs at a rate of 36 football fields per minute.
These amazing figures are only a
few in a litany of converging ecological, economic and social crises - global
warming, melting sea ice, rising gas prices, food and water shortages.
Unfolding in eerie unison, they have finally roused serious concern in the
public-at-large.
Unfortunately, media talking
heads and most "politically correct" environmental organizations offer only
band-aid solutions, telling us to buy a new light bulb and install a new low-flow
shower head. Or, if we can afford it, drive a Prius. These actions will
purportedly solve all our problems.
Meanwhile, the fundamental cause
of these problems is thoroughly and painstakingly ignored.
Its the 6.7 billion people,
folks.
Each person on the planet
naturally wants to survive and achieve prosperity. As such, they aspire to use
one heck of a lot of resources and energy - and produce one heck of a lot of
waste. And, it all adds up. The Carrying Capacity Network estimates that every
American child born today will consume 3.7 million pounds of minerals, metals
and fuels in the course of their lifetime.
As a society in general, the
United States doesn't think twice about this sort of growth and consumption.
For instance, as Maine's
population grew from 1950 onwards, there was never a decade where less than
40,000 new homes were built in the state. In the 1970s and 1980s alone there
were over 160,000 new homes constructed. Meanwhile, the six New England states
have added almost 22,000 miles of roads since 1950 - more than enough road to
go round-trip from Augusta to Los Angeles. Three times.
Meanwhile, citizens of developing
countries are understandably striving to be like the U.S., and many are
succeeding to an astonishing degree. But the Earth can't afford one U.S., let
alone a planet full.
Think about China, which appears
to be advancing economically along the same path as did Japan, South Korea and
Taiwan before it. That sounds wonderful, but there is just one problem. If
China achieves the same level of fish consumption as its Asian neighbors, the
entire sustainable wild fish production of all the world's oceans would be
required just to supply China's fish needs. By the way, China adds 8.3 million
people per year, equivalent to adding another Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.
Want to read more of this article? Click here.
Written by George Plumb and Joe Bish. George Plumb is the
President of Vermonters for a Sustainable Population (www.vspop.org) and a
member of the board of directors of the New England Coalition for Sustainable
Population. He is a life long environmental activist and a co-founder of
several Vermont environmental organizations. Joe Bish is the
Executive Director of the New England Coalition for a Sustainable Population
Note: Henry Barbaro, former NECSP Chairman, was published in the Boston Globe this past month. Click here to read his LTE. Also, on 10/4/08 Henry conducted a workshop, titled "The Ecological Consequences
of Population Growth," at the annual New England Environmental
Education Alliance conference in Hancock, NH. Way to go Henry!!!
How You Can Help Support NECSP
Did you know you can raise money for NECSP all by yourself? Its fun. Its easy. Its fun. Its easy! Click here. 
Its a fun new service called "Firstgiving". Just look up NECSP in the Firstgiving database and you can start your own fundraising page to support our efforts. With your help we can raise awareness in New England about the need to stabilize population as a core component of sustainable living.
Also,don't forget: When you are ordering from Amazon.com, start your order from the NECSP homepage (look on the left hand margin for the Amazon banner). A portion of your purchase price will be donated to the NECSP treasury.