Dear Friend,
“The world remains massively off track to limiting global warming to 1.5°C and avoiding the worst of climate catastrophe.”
– UN Secretary-General António Guterres
The terrible toll of the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911 was exacerbated by lack of adequate fire escapes —146 Greenwich Village factory workers died in the tragedy.
Modern building codes require multiple exits where substantial numbers of people congregate. Common sense demands alternate escape routes. Unfortunately, current efforts to address the climate crisis fail this test.
While enormous amounts are being invested in techno-fixes, there is growing evidence that the world will miss the oft-stated 2050 goal of net zero CO2 emissions from human activities by a very wide margin. The cruel, calculated cancellation by Trump/Musk of all US investments in family planning and their deliberate decimation of climate programs mean that we are betting our future on hallucinations.
There is still a “second exit.” If we can resume and accelerate support for family planning within several years, that could prove invaluable in the climate fight, especially if net zero by 2050 proves to be a mirage.
While shifting the population curve is no quick fix, it can make an enormous difference over generations. The UN projects with 95% certainty that the world population will be between 9 billion and 11.4 billion people in 2100 and that the US population will be between 256 million and 625 million. Anyone who thinks the magnitude of these potential different outcomes doesn’t matter in terms of emissions totals is ignoring basic arithmetic.
Calls to meet the climate crisis by stabilizing population through the expansion of voluntary family planning are met with near-universal, unconscionable silence. Most environmental groups either ignore the subject or paper over it with spurious claims that population concerns are inherently racist. Tell that to the leaders in the Global South who are deeply concerned about the dire impacts of overpopulation. Maybe detractors should spend less time looking over their shoulders and more time listening to such voices.
Also, given our own sky-high emissions, it’s high time to consider the environmental impacts of the roughly one million+ unplanned births here in the United States annually. Vice President Vance once ominously asserted that “when you go to the polls in this country as a parent, you should have more power—you should have more of an ability to speak your voice in our democratic republic—than people who don’t have kids.”
Ending existing unmet need for family planning is an investment in our shared future that we can easily afford. Doing so would unquestionably result in substantially lower greenhouse gas emissions.
When long-anticipated disaster strikes, it can be too late to sound the alarm. The clock is ticking for Planet Earth. Is anyone really listening?
