Denying ecological impact of overpopulation

Denying overpopulation

Description

Denying the ecological impact of overpopulation involves actively minimizing, dismissing, or refuting evidence that links population growth to environmental degradation. This strategy aims to redirect attention toward alternative causes, such as consumption patterns or technological inefficiencies, thereby reducing pressure for population control measures. Its practical intent is to influence policy, public opinion, and resource allocation by framing overpopulation as a negligible or irrelevant factor in ecological problems, thus remedying perceived threats to economic growth or personal freedoms.

Counter-claim

You always can blame any particular difficulty on something that is not overpopulation. Nobody ever dies of overpopulation. They die of famine, pestilence, and war. There is always some proximate cause.

Overconsumption is the issue, not overpopulation. The number of people is not what degrades the earth; it's the number of people times the flow of energy and material each person commands. The ecological footprint of the average American is 13 times that of the average Indian. The 4 million babies born in the USA in 2000 will have twice the earthly impact of the 26 million babies born in India.