Population Connection

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Population Connection (which before May 2002 was known as Zero Population Growth) [1] was founded in 1968 and "has been educating young people... and advocating for progressive action to stabilize world population at a level that can be sustained by Earth's resources" for nearly forty years. [2]

The popularity of Paul Ehrlichs' book, "The Population Bomb, which dealt specifically with the impact of U.S. population growth on the environment, gave ZPG a head-start in its own marketing. Americans knew that the developing world might have population issues to deal with, but the argument that the U.S. also had population problems was a shocking concept to most readers. Richard Bowers, a Connecticut lawyer, found the issue particularly interesting and suggested forming an organization around it. Professor Charles Remington, the third of ZPG's founding trio, recalled, "We decided that we would not let this organization handle what we called gringoism in which North Americans tell people in other parts of the world what they ought to do. We decided that it would be officially only linked to the United States." An organization was born.

The next step was choosing the organization's name. Zero population growth was used by demographers and had been coined by Kingsley Davis in 1967. Bowers, Remington, and Ehrlich understood the concept, but felt that it was not necessarily an obvious name choice...

"In 1969, legendary folk musician Pete Seeger wrote "We'll All Be A-Doubling" for ZPG. Those who already know this song will notice that he added a new last verse. Pete Seeger felt that the first version of the song was too serious, and in April 1997 he wrote a new, lighthearted verse. "We need to get people laughing," he said recently. "It's the best way to reach them." [1]

Board

Accessed September 2010: [2]

Directors (2007)

Source

Publications

Related SourceWatch

References

  1. History, Population Connection (from 2002), accessed September 14, 2008.
  2. Board, Population Connection, accessed September 14, 2010.

Contact

Web: http://www.populationconnection.org