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OT?: October 12, 1999 - A date that shall live in infamy..



SANETeers:
	Knowing full well that I am opening a can of worms from the left,
right and others, the Sustainable Agriculture forum is the perfect place to
bring up our current threat to sustainable anything.
	For those of you who are unaware, today the spaceship Earth marks
its 6-Billionth passenger.  Here is one link for a story by MSNBC:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/320915.asp which presents both sides

and an article sent me by the Environmental Defense Fund - 

Six Billion People and Counting!
----------------------

To: All Environmental Defense Fund Activists 
From: Azur Moulaert, Member Action Network Manager 
Date: Friday October 8, 1999 
Re: Six Billion People and Counting!  
	On October 12, the world's population will hit six billion  people.
This milestone raises a number of critical  questions about the future for
that 6 billionth person and  for all of us.  Will that child have adequate
health care  and enough food and water? Will she/he have any economic
opportunities beyond exploitative labor practices and  exploitation of our
natural heritage?   Without change, the answer to most of those questions
will  clearly be no. Population and the environment are  inextricably
linked.  We already know  -- all too well  --  that unchecked population
growth rapidly depletes resources  and dramatically threatens the
environment.  Today, nearly  one billion people on the planet are not
getting enough to  eat. More than half a billion people are living in
countries  suffering chronic shortages of fresh water.   Looking forward, we
must also consider that almost half of  the current six billion people are
under the age of 25; and  only half the married women in the world have
access to  modern contraceptives or reproductive health information and
services.  The pressures on the earth and on the growing  number of its
inhabitants are clear.  Without change, these  pressures will only increase.
Our nation's support for voluntary family planning  initiatives in the
world's poorest countries is one of the  great humanitarian success stories
and has historically  enjoyed strong bipartisan support in the Congress.
U.S.  funding has allowed more than 50 million poor women to have  access to
desperately needed services, and to make choices  about the number and
spacing of their children.  In recent  years, though, Congress has severely
restricted global  efforts to expand these programs.  In fact, U.S. funding
for  such efforts has been cut by one-third since 1995.  As a  result,
programs and clinics have been shut down or severely  cut back.   At EDF, we
recognize that population and consumption are  interlocking issues. To
resolve the world's major  environmental challenges will require stabilizing
the  world's population, at the lowest possible level, along with  using
resources sustainably, alleviating poverty, promoting  non-polluting
technologies, and implementing efficient and  equitable economic development
policies. Both developed and  developing countries should have the means to
address these  problems, including population issues.   In short, as we work
to meet current needs for a healthy  environment, it just makes sense to
provide communities with  voluntary, culturally sensitive means for a
healthy and  equitable future.   If you agree, please take a moment during
this historic time  to let your representatives in Congress know that Y6B
(year  of six billion) is the right time to restore America's  traditional
role of supporting family planning.  It's and  essential part of the answer
for the future.


	Draw you own opinions, but keep in mind that nothing is unlimited.

Walker Bennett
wbennett@caldwellspartin.com
wabennett@gw.total-web.net
w_bennett@msn.com
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