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Californians for Population Stabilization [CAPS] (http://www.cap-s.org/main.html)
CAPS was organized in 1986, when it split off from ZPG (Zero Population Growth) because that organization, like many other population groups, decided to focus on the politically safer issue of global overpopulation (which obviously focuses on fertility rather than, more provocatively, migration). While agreeing that global overpopulation is a problem, “CAPS works to formulate and advance policies and programs designed to stabilize the population of California at a level which will preserve a good quality of life for all Californians.” “Since nearly all of California’s runaway population growth comes from immigration, CAPS focuses largely on this issue: sponsoring public and media awareness campaigns, working with lawmakers to promote more responsible policies, maintaining a growing network of member-activists, and conducting research.”
Vermont Earth Institute (http://www.vtearthinstitute.org/about.html)
Founded in 1994 as Vermont Citizens for Sustainable Population to promote a better understanding of how population growth and resource consumption affect the environment and the quality of human life, the organization changed its name in 2000 when it became one of some 20 “sister” institutes to the Northwest Earth Institute (NWEI). Its focus is to educate and support Vermonters to reduce consumption and adopt environmentally sustainable practices in their homes, workplaces and communities; its discussion courses and educational programs bring people together, raise their ecological awareness and facilitate profound change in values, habits and actions in caring for the environment. My perusal of the VEI website indicates that over the years the organization has shifted the balance of attention away from population growth issues toward almost exclusively resource consumption issues.
The New England Coalition for Sustainable Population (http://www.necsp.org/pages/1/index.htm)
NECSP, founded in 1996, is a network of organizations and individuals that, according to the website, are “committed to achieving a sustainable human population at the local, state, regional, national and global levels.” It appears from the site, however, that the definition of “sustainable population” does not necessarily mean a stabilized population size. NECSP supports population organizations and activists in the region and regularly exchanges information regarding legislative and other initiatives which affect population in New England, nationally and globally; and plans and supports state and regional population-related events.
Floridians for a Sustainable Population (http://www.flsuspop.org/)
FSP is a statewide organization that believes “unrestrained population growth is the chief factor in the development sprawl that is eating up our wetlands, our forests and our necessary agricultural acreage.” The concern is well-taken: the website notes Florida’s annual 4.8% growth that leads to a doubling in 15 years (Albemarle’s rate leads to doubling in about 33 years). I’m a little uneasy about FSP’s focus almost exclusively on foreign immigrants: “Because the major propellant of U.S. population growth is our current U.S. immigration policies, both legal and illegal (which is also pushing the 1,000 a day influx into Florida), FSP is committed to urgently advocating immigration reforms this year.”
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Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Population |