From Readers.

Have U.S. Environmentalists Abandoned Population Stabilization?

The years surrounding 1970, the year of thc first Earth Day, marked the coming of age of the modern environmental movement. As that movement enters its fourth decade, perhaps the most striking change is its abandonment of U.S. population stabilization as an active goal.

The groups have cast aside what most environmentalists 30 years ago understood to be the task before them. Their "foundational formula" at that time held that total environmental impact is the product of average individual impact (a combination of consumption factors) multiplied by the number of people. Many environmental groups saw population growth in the United States (because of the size of individual consumption rates) as the most important to stop. By working on both U.S. population and consumption, the movement of the '60s and '70s had a comprehensive approach toward sustainable environmental protection and restoration.

But a survey has found that no national environmental group today works for an end to U.S. population growth. Yet the effects of constant growth are among the most contentious issues in local communities: sprawl, congestion, overcrowded schools, habitat loss, destruction of open spaces. Since 1970 (population 203 million), more than 73 million Americans have been added to our cities and countryside. The Census Bureau now projects that, under current federal policies and cultural trends, we will surpass half a billion in this century; with no peak in sight.

The Journal of Policy History (Pennsylvania State University) recently asked us to explore this radical change in the environmental movement and make suggestions to future historians about where they might look for the causes. Here is what we found:

Dropping Fertility: By 1972, the fertility rate in the United States had declined to a level low enough to eventually produce zero population growth (ZPG), as long as immigration remained reasonably low. Many Americans, including environmentalists, apparently confused "replacement-level" fertility with ZPG. They mistakenly concluded that the overpopulation problem was solved. With ZPG supposedly achieved, support for organizations and programs focused on population began to drift away.

Anti-Abortion Politics: To the Catholic hierarchy and the pro-life movement, legalized abortion and population stabilization have been inextricably linked. In the 1990s, it was still difficult for a pro-stabilization person or group to get a hearing from Catholic or pro-life groups without being considered an abortion apologist.

A number of leaders of philanthropic organizations involved with population efforts in the 1970s have said that active measures by U.S. Catholic bishops and the Vatican were the greatest barrier to advancing population measures and in setting a national policy. The population movement began to be tarred as anti-Catholic. Environmental groups seeking membership funds and support from a wide spectrum of Americans had good reason to steer clear of population issues altogether, rather than risk offending current and potential members who...