Letters: Too many people for the planet

Re “Moral issue in population growth,” March 2

Overpopulation raises a real moral problem in humanity’s lack of respect for the wild animal.

We have procreated at a rate that has raised the world’s population to about 7 billion in a very short time. The increasing consumption of food and other resources worldwide by humans means that non-human species have lost too much of their habitat, and many now face extinction.

Americans should support programs to limit population here and abroad, to decrease our consumption and to preserve wildlife habitat. A positive morality demands that we do so.

Paul Carlton

San Clemente

Our downward environmental spiral will only worsen so long as short-sighted forces combine to preclude enlightened population planning.

The goal of stabilizing human population will never appeal to religious zealots who believe their chosen gods forbid effective birth control. And it’s anathema to politicians who tout an ever-expanding economy, the better to please constituents who cling to the hope of endless upward mobility in a world of finite resources.

Inconvenient as the truths underlying overpopulation may seem, they foretell cataclysmic consequences unless our leaders wise up. Deferring feasible population stabilization strategies only increases the likelihood of abrupt decline of numerous species, including our own.

Devra Mindell

Santa Monica

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