I am tired of reading letters that focus on overpopulation as the root cause of our environmental problems. The United Nations Environmental Program report — “One Planet, How Many People? A Review of Earth’s Carrying Capacity” — conducted a survey of scientific estimates of the Earth’s carrying capacity and showed that the majority of estimates fall between a capacity of 8 billion and 16 billion people. Our environmental problems are rooted in consumption — particularly massive consumption by the world’s wealthiest countries.
Furthermore, the only non-draconian strategies to reduce population include reducing wealth inequality, providing contraceptives to everyone, and fully including women in educational and economic opportunities — all policies that are worth pursuing in their own right. Population control by other means is misanthropic at best and ecofascist and totalitarian at worst.
If we want to get serious about climate change, food systems, soil recovery, deforestation, air and water pollution, eliminating plastics and all the other environmental crises of our time, we need to address consumption of resources. We do that by living in closer communities and building a sharing economy, reducing our auto-dependence, holding large corporations accountable for their pollution and putting a price on pollution of all forms. Anything less is a distraction.
Alexis Biddle
Marcola
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519
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