Reducing traffic emissions won’t get any easier with 400 million Americans

By Jeremy Beck

The New York Times reports that CO2 emissions from traffic – the leading source of emissions in the United States – have remained “stubbornly high,” and per capita increases are certainly part of the problem. “ven as vehicles have become more efficient,” Nadja Popovich and Denise Lu report, “Americans, buoyed by a strong economy and … Continued

Reaction: John Oliver’s segment on legal immigration

By Jeremy Beck

NumbersUSA’s Jeremy Beck (Media Standards Director), Grant Newman (Government Relations Chief of Staff), and Rob Harding (Sustainability Communications Manager) discuss John Oliver’s segment on legal immigration. JEREMY: So John Oliver dedicated one of his popular monologues to legal immigration. He broke down the legal system for immigrants and non-immigrants. What did you think? GRANT: I … Continued

Immigration may explain the media’s blind spot on population

By Jeremy Beck

The number one threat to endangered species in the United States — habitat loss — is closely related to the increase in the number of Americans. The destruction of ecosystems often occurs around heavily populated cities, which were established on some of the richest bio-systems the land has to offer. Our expansion literally paves over … Continued

How Much Nature Should America Keep?

By Jeremy Beck

We lose a football field worth of nature every 30 seconds in the United States. We add an NFL football stadium worth of people every ten days. You don’t have to be an environmental scientist or demographer to see the connection. Even with our efforts to reduce our individual footprints, our collective feet are stomping … Continued

Job Incentives That Kill

By Jeremy Beck

Pictures can move us in ways that words cannot and it is hard to find the right words for the photograph of Óscar Ramírez and his 23-month old daughter that went viral this week. Ramirez and his daughter, Valeria, drowned trying to cross the Rio Grande. Ramirez’s wife, who successfully crossed before them, reportedly watched … Continued

Breaking the population-environment taboo at EarthX

By Jeremy Beck

Last month, we did our small part to break what David Attenborough calls the “bizarre taboo” that prevents an open discussion about the connection between population size and the environment from taking place. Obviously, the number of people in any given space has an impact on the environment of that space. When the first Earth … Continued

NPR’s Chain Migration Error

By Jeremy Beck

In her interview with Jose Antonio Vargas this week, NPR’s Rachel Martin mischaracterized separate proposals from David Frum and President Trump to reduce immigration. MARTIN: David Frum, who is a vocal Trump critic, agrees with President Trump on this idea of getting rid of a rule that says one member of the family who immigrates … Continued

David Frum, Jose Antonio Vargas and the state of the immigration debate

By Jeremy Beck

“How much immigration should we allow into the United States? And who should be allowed in?” Those are the questions NPR/WAMU’s “1A” poised in it’s April 11 episode featuring David Frum (The Atlantic) and Jose Antonio Vargas (Define American). Along with “how should they be enforced?” they are also the fundamental questions of immigration policy. … Continued

Immigration, Human Thriving and a ‘decent life for all [life]’

By Jeremy Beck

Last week, the American physicist Steven Chu spoke at the University of Chicago about the need to develop new economic systems that don’t rely on perpetual population growth. “The world needs a new model of how to generate a rising standard of living that’s not dependent on a pyramid scheme.” – Steven Chu at a … Continued