---------------- Begin Forwarded Message ---------------- Date: 12/14/99 9:28 AM From: doug.lafollette at SOS.STATE.WI.US (La Follette, Doug) Sender: AUDUBON-CHAT at LIST.AUDUBON.ORG (Audubon discussion list) Reply-to: AUDUBON-CHAT at LIST.AUDUBON.ORG (Audubon discussion list) To: AUDUBON-CHAT at LIST.AUDUBON.ORG
Every city should do this. Happy Tuesday, Doug
> Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999
> Subject: Aspen resolution passes
>
> The Aspen City Council voted 5 to 0 in favor of the following
resolution:
>
>
> City of Aspen ,Colorado
> RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF U.S. POPULATION STABILIZATION
>
> WHEREAS: The population of the United States reached about 274 million
in
> 1999 and is growing by approximately three million each year, over
57,000
> weekly, the highest population growth rate of the developed countries
of
> the
> world. Most European countries are at zero or negative population
growth.
> (Professor Albert Bartlett, University of Colorado, Boulder)
>
> WHEREAS: The population of the U.S. is six percent of the world's
> population,
> consuming up to 25 percent of the world's natural resources.
(Population
> Reference Bureau)
>
> WHEREAS: The ability of the United States to support a population
within
> its
> carrying capacity is now strained because of population growth. Fifty
> percent
> of our original wetlands have been drained to accommodate growth.
> (Environmental Protection Agency) Ninety-five percent of all U.S. old
> growth
> forests have been destroyed. (Save American Forests) It is estimated
that
> we
> have consumed approximately three-fourths of all our recoverable
> petroleum,
> and we now import more than half of the oil we consume in the United
> States.
> (Dr. Albert Bartlett) America's underground aquifers are being drawn
down
> 23
> percent more than their natural rates of recharge. (David Durham,
Carrying
> Capacity Network)
>
> WHEREAS: For each person added to the U.S. population, about one acre
of
> open
> land is lost, causing a total yearly loss of about three million
acres.
> America annually exports $40 Billion in food. If present population
trends
> continue, the U.S. will cease to be a food exporter by about 2030.
(Dr.
> David
> Pimentel, Cornell University)
>
> WHEREAS: The report of the Task Force on Population and Consumption of
the
> President's Council on Sustainable Development (1996) said: "The two
most
> important steps toward sustainability are:
> 1. to stabilize the population promptly, and
> 2. to move toward greater material and energy efficiency in all
production
> and use of goods and service." The President's Council said,
> "...reducing
> immigration levels is a necessary part of population stabilization and
the
> drive toward sustainability."
>
> WHEREAS: Population growth generated by mass immigration to the United
> States
> causes increasing pressures on our environment and forces local
> governments
> and communities to spend taxpayers dollars for additional schools,
health
> care facilities, water disposal plants, transportation systems, fire
> protection, water supplies, power generation plants and many other
social
> and
> environmental costs.
> (Carrying
> Capacity
> Network; Roy Beck, Immigration by the Numbers)
>
> WHEREAS: 70 percent of U.S. population growth in the 1990's resulted
from
> mass immigration, comprised of approximately 1.2 million legal
immigrants
> and
> 300,000 to 400,000 illegal immigrants plus their U.S.- born offspring,
> annually. (Center for Immigration Studies, January, 1999) If mass
> immigration continues, the population of the United States is
projected to
> exceed half-a-billion by 2050.
>
> (United States Census Bureau)
>
> WHEREAS: Excessive population growth is unsustainable. With a return
to
> replacement levels of immigration, U.S. population can expect to
stabilize
> in
> another 40 to 50 years, at best at 325 million (Dr. Albert Bartlett)
> Replacement level of immigration is approximately 200,000 per
year.(U.S.
> Census Bureau).
>
>
> WHEREAS: A majority of Americans of all ethnic and racial backgrounds
> favors
> substantial reduction in legal immigration and a complete halt to
illegal
> immigration. (1998 Wall Street Journal Poll; 1996 Roper Poll; Hispanic
USA
> Group survey)
>
> WHEREAS: The people of the United States and the City of Aspen,
Colorado,
> envision a country with a stable population, material and energy
> efficiency,
> a sustainable future, a healthy environment, clean air and water,
ample
> open
> space, wilderness, abundant wildlife and social and civic cohesion in
> which
> the dignity of human life is enhanced and protected.
>
> NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That the City of Aspen hereby petitions
the
> Congress of the United States and the President to immediately
> implement-with
> deliberate speed and by means consistent with the Constitution of the
> United
> States, the consensus of the American People and the President's
> Council-legislation appropriate to stabilize the population of the
United
> States and insure sustainability: (1) that will encourage and promote
all
> opportunities toward establishing and maintaining material and energy
> efficiency, social and environmental responsibility; (2) by a return
to
> traditional replacement levels of legal immigration , approximately
> 175,000,
> all-inclusive, annually; (3) by requiring equitable wages and
benefits
> for
> workers and community environmental protections to be part of all free
> trade
> agreements; and (4) by mandated enforcement of our immigration laws
> against
> illegal immigration, thereby promoting the future well being of all
the
> citizens of this Nation and the City of Aspen.