300 Million People And Counting

The U.S. Population Is Growing Faster Than Any Other Country

(CBS) 
In other years the country reached population milestones, like in 1967 when the population hit 200 million, much fanfare surrounded the achievement. That year, a census clock kept track of the increase and President Lyndon Johnson visited the census bureau to commemorate the occasion.

Life magazine documented the birth of the 200 million America. Robert Ken Woo Jr. was born Nov. 20th 11:03 a.m. in Atlanta, Ga.

"I've always considered it an honor and something that I've been proud of, at the same time recognizing that I had absolutely nothing to do with receiving it," Woo, a lawyer in Atlanta and father of three, said. "And it was just a completely random, random happening."

Woo's birth prompted then Sunday Morning anchor Charles Kuralt to look back at how fast America had grown. He went to one of the earliest colonial towns, Plymouth, where the pilgrims arrive on the Mayflower in 1620.

"When the embattled farmers stood here, by the old north bridge in concord, and fired the shot heard round the world, there were 3 million of us, mostly farmers," Kuralt said then. "Think of it: 3 million people; one for every square mile of what was to become, in the course of human events, a nation."

It took until 1915 to reach 100 million. The streets were still filled with horse and buggies and Ellis Island was filled with immigrants. In 1967, the U.S. was growing up from the inside and only six percent of Americans were foreigners. Alarm bells were sounding over the population boom.

The 1960s-era T.V. series "Lost in Space" tasked the Robinson family with finding a new planet for humans because of overcrowding on earth. In 1972 a population commission chaired by John D. Rockefeller III expressed great concern.

"The population growth of the current magnitude has aggravated many of the nation's problems and made their solution more difficult," he said then.

Cautionary tones persist today. Vicki Markham of the Center for Environment and Population says a new scientific study shows that Americans are making a deep, damaging, ecological imprint on the environment.

"We have never had an America where we had so many people consuming so many natural resources, with so much environmental impact," she said. "When you take all the Americans, our everyday actions do cause there to be an imprint, just like when you have an imprint of your foot on the beach. It is not without effect."

Densely populated coastal regions, urban sprawl and more cars cause climate changes and place increased demands on resources like energy and water. Markham said there is already evidence that the country is reaching it's "ecological limits to some degree."

Frey, the demographer says that population growth is not necessarily the cause of environmental degradation. He said Americans simply consume too much. He says 400 million people — which he predicts will be reached in 2043 — is manageable.

"I think we're much better equipped in this country because of our wealth, because of our scientific prowess and just because of the land and resources we have here to enable that kind of growth," he said. "I don't think it's doom and gloom"

Maricopa mayor Kelly is banking on Frey's prediction of sustainable growth.

"You plant a seed, whether it's a cotton seed or flower seed, you plant a seed of economic growth or prosperity, and it's another way to look at it, another way to look at farming," he said.

[peaceforusa]

SharnCedar

"Growth will kill us, but we can't stop growing or we'll die."

How do you figure this? All the illegal aliens in the USA are killing America. Get rid of them and we regain some of our strength. Do you know how many innocent Americans have been killed by illegal aliens? Here is just one site with just a few examples of devastation they cause in America. http://www.immigrationshumancost.org/ They suck off of our resources and taxes until America is brought to its knees. We cannot allow this to happen. We cannot allow anymore illegal aliens, or any more poor from other countries to come here, at least not for alot of years. They are making America the trash bin of the world and they are killing America.
America will not die without them, we will flourish. The melting pot is full and we cannot give our country up to any more. There is no room here for any of us, our children, and our granchildren to ever reach the American dream we were so afforded by our Constitution.

[sharncedar]

It's pretty simple that more people makes the wealthy and elite wealthier, for example more people pay more taxes and buy more products. The government sees a direct increase in revenue for every new body, this is how they get growth which is how our economy works. That's the capital in capitalism, its growth on investments, necessary or there will be a general collapse of the system.

When there are too many people there will also be a general collapse of the system, won't there. We are in a real catch-22.

Growth will kill us, but we can't stop growing or we'll die.

We passed the point of no return on death highway many many years ago. A good analogy for our system's current state is a meth addict, stop taking the drug which for us is population growth, and you have to deal with the realization you are ruined without the drug's false feeling of strength. But, the best advice is the same we'd give to a meth addict, which is stop now and there might be a chance at some limited survival after a few hard decades of suffering and work. And the chance of the US taking that advice is about the chance of a meth addict listening. Nevertheless, like with addicts, communicate, be strong, be patient, work diligently, with humility, never give up.

[peaceforusa]

Have we the American people been sold out or what? Does ANY politician represent us?Posted by lestb35
No.. Politicians are about the other people. The Muslims, the Arabs the Mexicans and Latinos, the Middle Eastern Indians, everyone from every country is represented except the American Indian, and the White and Black Christian. We are slowly being pushed into the worlds trash bin and noone is standing by us. We will have to do that our own to take our country back. And we have to do it now.

[lestb35]

Have we the American people been sold out or what? Does ANY politician represent us?

[hmsudul]

New families like Russian and Hispanic are
moving in with 6-to 9 children thatis bound to
amke an impact. Middle-class and wealthy are not
adding to the population.....presently it seems
to be the immgrants. Poplulation control is an
unspoken issue and needs attention..
Why is birth control and tube tying so hard to
come. Plus a major education on sensible family
planning.But we seem to be too busy wrangling
over politcial overtones. WAKE UP AMERICA ..too
much over crowding does yield to crime.

[peaceforusa]

Don't you people realize the Melting Pot of America is full...How much more will we be forced to consume?

[abcdefgh1232]

With respect to your %u201C300 million and counting . .. %u201C, let%u2019s not forget that there were millions here before 1620, well before the %u201Cshot heard around the world%u201D, before %u201C3 million mostly farmers%u201D,etc. Shame on Kuralt and his research staff. Let%u2019s get our heads out of the sand and start reporting the truth for once with the original inhabitants of this once beautiful. %u201C%u2026 3 million; one for every square mile, etc. %u201C. How dare you ignore the forceful removal of Native peoples from their beautiful lands, the genocide, the unspeakable atrocities committed by Europeans, immigrants against Native peoples for their homeland. How shameful your bias reporting on your otherwise excellent journalism. H.Begay, Tonanesdizi