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Pitkin County, CO, US,  passes population/immigration stabilization
resolution


A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF PITKIN COUNTY, COLORADO,
SUPPORTION POPULATION STABILIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

Resolution # 2000___56_________


RECITALS


1. The population of the United States reached 275 million in 1999 and
is growing by approximately three million each year, over 57,000
weekly, the highest population growth rate of the developed countries
of the world. Most developed countries are at zero or negative
population growth (Dr. Albert Bartlett, University of Colorado,
Boulder). 


2. The population of the U.S. is about five percent of the world's
population, consuming up to 25 percent of portions of world's natural
resources (Population Reference Bureau).

 
3. A population cannot be stable if, by its size or behavior, it
destroys the very life-support systems on which it depends The ability
of the United States to support a population within its carrying
capacity is now strained because of population growth. (Dr. Virginia
Abernethy, Population-Environment Balance) Fifty percent of our
original wetlands have been drained to accommodate growth.
(Environmental Protection Agency) Ninety-five percent of all U.S. old
growth forests have been destroyed. (Save American Forests) It is
estimated that we have consumed approximately three-fourths of all our
recoverable petroleum, and we now import more than half of the oil we
consume in the United States. (Bartlett) America's underground
aquifers are being drawn down 23 percent more than their natural rates
of recharge (Carrying Capacity Network). 

 
4. For each person added to the U.S. population, about one acre of
open land is lost through urbanization and degradation, causing a
total yearly loss of about three million acres. America annually
exports $40 billion in food. If present population trends continue,
the U.S. will cease to be a food exporter by about 2030 (Dr. David
Pimentel, Cornell University). 


5. Immigration is the leading cause of population growth in the Unites
States. Population is the leading cause of environmental degradation.
(The Environmentalist's Guide to a Sensible Immigration Policy. 


6. The report of the Task Force on Population and Consumption of the
President's Council on Sustainable Development (1996) said: "The two
most important steps toward sustainability are: 1. to stabilize the
population promptly, and 2. to move toward greater material and energy
efficiency in all production and use of goods and service." The
President's Council said, "�reducing immigration levels is a necessary
part of population stabilization and the drive toward sustainability"
(Executive Summary); and 


7. Poverty, exacerbated by population growth generated by population
explosion, places demands on infrastructure: schools, health care
facilities, waste disposal plants, transportation systems, fire
protection, water supplies, power generation plants and other social
services that exceed the ability of local jurisdictions and
communities to provide these services, forcing those jurisdictions to
increase taxes to keep up with demand. 


8. Legal and illegal immigration combined is too high for
assimilation. In 1998 alone, there were 420,000 illegal permanent
entries into the U.S. (U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service)
The latest U.S. Census Bureau shows that immigration will add 90
million to the U.S. population and account for 70 percent of
population growth within the next 50 years. If mass immigration
continues, the population of the U.S. will exceed 400 million by 2050.
If current proposals to increase immigration are adopted, the U.S.
population could exceed a half-billion by 2050. (U.S. Census Bureau). 
 

9. Contemporary pressures to emigrate from foreign countries are
created in large by exponential population growth, displacement and
urbanization of farmers, environmental exploitation and degradation,
and by inadequate wages, benefits and protections for workers. (Dr.
Robert Cohen, Boulder, Colorado, Population/Global Resources.


10. Continuous population growth is unsustainable. (Bartlett)
Considering population momentum, a permanent return to more
traditional Twentieth Century (1925 to 1965) immigration levels on all
immigration in excess of 175,000 annually, will eventually allow the
U.S. to stabilize its population sometime after another 50 years, at
best at a level exceeding more than at 350 million Americans (Roy
Beck,  http://www.NumbersUSA.com ). 
 

11. A majority of Americans of all ethnic and racial backgrounds favor
substantial reduction in legal immigration and a complete halt to
illegal immigration (1998 Wall Street Journal; 1996 Roper Poll;
Hispanic USA Group survey); and 


12. The people of the United States and the Board of County
Commissioners, County of Pitkin, State of Colorado, envision a country
with a stable population, material and energy efficiency, a
sustainable future, a healthy environment, clean air and water, ample
open space, wilderness, abundant wildlife and social and civic
cohesion in which the dignity of human life is enhanced and protected.


13. The Board of County Commissioners recognizes the value of
diversity and the contributions on immigrants since the arrival of the
first settlers many centuries ago. We also recognize and deplore the
exploitation if immigrants through violations of the Fair Labor
Standards Act, such as minimum wage and overtime. We specifically
reject the notion that immigrants, (legal and not), are
disproportionately criminal or bad people. Nonetheless, we believe
immigration, both legal and illegal, should be restrained. The United
States has a responsibility to promote family planning opportunities
world-wide, to require our trade partners to treat their laborers
humanely, and to respect our shared environment.


NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED 

that the Board of County Commissioners of Pitkin County, Colorado,
hereby petitions the Congress of the United States and the President
to immediately implement, with deliberate speed and by means
consistent with the Constitution of the United States, the consensus
of the American People and the President's Council, legislation
appropriate to stabilize the population of the United States and
insure sustainability that:


Will encourage and promote all opportunities toward establishing and
maintaining material and energy efficiency, social and environmental
responsibility



Provide for the immediate, permanent establishment of all immigration
levels not to exceed 175,000 annually


Require equitable wages, protections and benefits for workers and
national and community environmental protections to be a mutual part
of all free trade agreements


Mandated enforcement of our immigration laws against illegal
immigration, thereby promoting the future well being of all the
citizens of this county, state and nation


Provide financial support of programs designed to assist Third World
nations with family planning utilizing all methods of education and
contraceptives available. 



 
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT:

Pitkin County accepts its responsibility to work to improve working
and living conditions, both locally and throughout the world, through
appropriate regulations that support multi-cultural education
programs, that conserve natural resources world-wide, that move toward
greater energy efficiency in production and use of goods and services,
and that exhibit social responsibility.



APPROVED ON THE 22nd DAY OF MARCH 2000