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Show Page 4 The UTAH INDEPENDENT The Paper That Dares To Take A Stand November 10, 1972 20 in total U.S. pollutant output. From 40 to 95 per cent of these increases were caused by new production technologies which resulted in increased output of pollutants per unit of production. Commoner points out that it would have been necessary to reduce 1946 population by 86 per cent in order to prevent the rise in pollution which has occurred THE POPULATION QUESTION Continued from Page today. 1 . during the past 25 years. In other words, we would have to have a current U.S. population of 20 to 25 million people to maintain 1946 pollution levels at todays level of technology. By contrast, a 30-pcent reduction in the environmental impact of technology would have accomplished the same result. The conclusion is that U.S. population growth has only a minor effect on the intensification of pollution. Conversely, immense reductions in population size would be required to materially affect pollution levels. There is at the same time another side to the pollution coin, namely, that although people account for only 12 to 20 per cent of pollution, they form 100 per cent of the productive source of funds which must be used in the future to reduce many types of pollution. Lake Erie, for instance, will continue to be a problem regardless of future population trends. But it will be a problem that can be more easily resolved from a financial point of view by a growing population. The President's National Goals Research Staff recognized the lack of any population explosion in the U.S. when it stated in July, 1971, in a report entitled "Toward Balanced Growth: Quantity with Quality: "One decision which appears not to be urgent is that .of ovei-a- ll size of the population -even after the effects of a considerable immigration are taken into the end of this represents the Consetransition. demographic quently, our population growth is now slowing down and in the future will begin to level out, causing a number of noted demographers to bail out of their exponentially rising projections. The most prominent example to date is Donald J. Bogue, director of the Community and Family Study Center at the University of Chicago. In 1963, Dr. Bogue was among those shouting from the rooftops about the perils of overpopulation. At the time, estimates of U.S. population at the end of the century varied from 300 to We are nearing S curve which account. 2) Population growth er in the United States is not a major cause of problems. Population growth has proved to be a boon to those in search of simple solutions to complex problems. Pollution, crime, overcrowding, resource depletion, lower living standards, reduced governmental services, you name it, population growth causes it, according to these simplistic souls. But the accusations are not supported by 400 million. Today, Dr. Bogue is predicting a U.S. population in 2001 of about 250 million people only 42 million or 20 per cent more than in 1970. Bogue further predicts that there will be no more babies born annually in 2001 than there are the facts. Technological Impact Take, for example, pollution. According to Barry Commoner, the increase in population since 1946 accounts for only about 12 to ROOF REPAIR MATERIAL per cent of the various increases - - OR BIG SMALL QUOTATIONS e e e e e a a e a STRINGHAM LUMBER CO. All Kinds & Sizes Paneling COMPLETE LINE OF BUILDING & HARDWARE NEEDS 3182 South Main Salt Lake City (801)484-446- 9 484-462- 1 Snow White Eggs I I HANSEN-NIEDERHAUSE- population control is sort of, yes, an answer to the youth problem. But an answer which involves solving problems simply by eliminating people who have or cause the problems hardly merits serious consideration as a legitimate soluso-call- ed What about overcrowding? At per square mile, the United States is one of the least worlds annual resource output 55 persons Continued on Page 5 fine guaranteed LAVELL BUTT AGENCY Fast. Service 571-19- 278-661- 11 1 Write: P.O. Box 21 194 Salt Lake City, Utah 84121 MORRIS Stay "fit as a fiddle " and feel your best. 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Financing Plumbing Heating & Air Conditioning 1 - I 262-545- 4 BUY BY THE DOZEN OR a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a AVAILABLE DAILY AT WHOLESALE PRICES 539 West 3900 South Salt Lake City (801) Fertile also available. Frozen for restaurants and bakeries. ed Tongue-in-cheekwis- e, TAYLORSVILLE a LUMBER I I I I I I I jam-pack- face-to-fa- ng a a a e e metropolitan areas for their mutual advantage. This is what metropolitan areas are all about. But even in these areas population density is decreasing with the continuing exodus of people from central cities to suburbs. This decentralization was initially made possible by improvements in transportation. It is now being further hastened by revolutionary improvements in electronic communications which are rapidly minimizing the need for centralized and paper-shufflicontacts. Nobody anticipates that the United States will run out of resources in the next 50 years due to population growth. Beyond . that, it is difficult to speculate of, " to put it another way, it is only possible to speculate because we are not sure of the full extent of existing resources or what new resources may be developed. Furthermore, many resources now being consumed and discarded will increasingly be reused in the future should prices rise due to growing scarcities and the addition of pollution charges to processing costs. lation decreases? Of course, juvenile delinquency goes up disproportionately during a period of population growth because there are more young people around in relation to the rest of the population. The ad also calls attention to this fact with the statement: "City slums with juveniles, thousands of them idle breed discontent, drug addiction and chaos. 99.9 425 298-37- 13 e e ge SILVER BULLION' NEW INSTALLATIONS REMODELING & MAINTENANCE 220 VOLT & HIGH VOLTAGE WIRING FOR HOME & INDUSTRY CALL FOR e e e e example of this was a full-paadvertisement in the New York Times sponsored by a group called the Campaign to Check the Population Explosion. Under the headline "Have you ever been mugged? Well, you may be was a picture of a man grappling with a mugger. Is there an answer to crime in the cities ? the ad copy asked. Yes, it responded, Vbirth control is one. Major central cities such as New York do, in fact, have the highest crime rates. But these cities are losing, not gaining, population. Shall we therefore conclude that crime increases as popu- METER CHANGES POWER e e Another favorite problem of populationists is crime. A classic Population Density SERVING THE SALT LAKE METROPOLITAN AREA PLASTICS COATING ROOFING PAPER densely populated countries in the world. Holland, for example, has 975 persons per square mile; England, 588; Switzerland, 382. Overcrowding in the U.S. is a function of population distribution, not population size. And people congregate, i.e., overcrowd, in Crowding and Crime (The company responsible for keeping interest rates down.) Insure through Motors Insurance Corp. 5 'CHEVROLET (801) (801 ) 789-316- 1 582-220- 8 Vernal Salt Lake City T OLDSUOaiLE |