So much for the overpopulation myth

From http://www.lifenews.com/nat2581.html


U.S. Will Soon Have 300 Million People, But No Overpopulation Worries

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by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com EditorSeptember 13, 2006
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The United States will soon have 300 million people, but a leading population research organization says that's a reason to celebrate. The group indicates that the fears from population control advocates and abortion supporters about what the landmark figure means are unfounded.
The Population Research Institute says worries of overpopulation will abound when the media reports on the 300 millionth person, but says there are no concerns because the nation's population growth averages about 0.9% annually.

In fact, PRI president Steven Mosher, a leading expert on population growth, says the expansion of the number of people in the United States is beneficial.
"With the population of the United States expected to continue aging for decades, threatening the impending bankruptcies of Social Security and Medicare among other crises, America needs more people," Mosher told LifeNews.com in a statement.
Joseph A. D'Agostino, PRI's vice president for communications, adds that the concerns some may have by the large wave of immigration into the United States in recent decades should be separated from issues of population growth.
"America's aging problem and low unemployment rate means she needs more workers for the future," he said.

"Whether massive immigration causes more problems than it solves is a separate issue," D'Agostino added. "If Americans' birthrate had not dropped so low since the 1960s, we wouldn't be facing these problems in the first place. Government policies and cultural attitudes designed to increase Americans' birthrates could solve all of these long-term issues."
Population control advocates say that there are too many people in America's urban areas, but United Nations figures show that the United States is still well behind other nations in population density because the nation is so large and has so many rural areas with very few people that could sustain many more.

According to the UN, the United States' population density is 31 people per square kilometer, well below the world average of 48 and far below those of most Western European nations.
PRI says other figures show slight differences but agree on the fact that America is not overpopulated. The United States is sparsely populated compared to the world as a whole, and much more sparsely populated than countries with comparable wealth, cultures, and environmental protections.

"America will not run out of room or resources any time soon," said D'Agostino.
"Continued movement of people out of small towns and rural areas into metropolitan conglomerations gives most city and suburb-dwelling Americans the impression that overall population growth is out of control," he added. "But that is simply not true, although many metropolitan areas have managed their local growth unwisely."
Related web sites:Population Research Institute - http://www.pop.org