Dedication

Appreciation and thanks to the authors and publishers of all the quoted works for their invaluable assistance, and to all the friends and readers whose

suggestions have greatly improved the book.

This book is dedicated to Dr. Leroy Augenstein, whose speech to high school students in 1967 began it; and to you, the reader,

particularly if you are in your teens or twenties:

May your children and their children, for thousands of generations,

live in a better and better world.

This book is copyrighted and is not to be resold, copied for sale, or altered in text or message without the written permission of the author and publisher.

However, use of original parts of the book for pro-environmental purposes, and duplication of the entire book for free distribution,

are both permitted and encouraged.

You may download the newest, updated version of this book,

absolutely free, from

lifeonacrowdedplanet.com

and we would love to hear from you (same site or lifeonacrowdedplanet@yahoo.com). Cause For Optimism (formerly Life on a Crowded Planet) is a work in progress. It contains hundreds of changes suggested by readers. How could it be better, clearer, more interesting and more effective? What other topics should have been discussed? What solutions did we not think of? Let us know. And thank you for your help and interest!

This version was updated September 21, 2006.

OF COURSE

THIS BOOK IS PUBLISHED ON RECYCLED PAPER!

To recycle it more,

when you are done reading this book,

please share it with family, friends, and co-workers. Thank you.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

Imagine 5

Is the Life We are Now Living Sustainable? 6

Which Came First, the Chicken, or the Egg? 9

How To Read This Book 11

I : WHAT PROBLEMS DO WE FACE AND WHY?

Lots of People 11

Why Us? Why Now? 11

How Many People Can the Earth Support? 18

How Well is the Earth Supporting Us? 20

How Are We Doing Now? Our Footprint on the Earth 23

Greenhouse Gases and Global Warming 29

Ozone Depletion 37

Acid Rain 39

Loss of Biodiversity 40

II : CONTROVERSIES AND MISCONCEPTIONS

Why Doesn’t Someone Do Something? 47

What about Malthus? 51

What Will Stop Population Growth? 53

Why Can’t We Send People to Other Planets? 58

What about AIDS and Ebola? 59

How Important is Sustainability? 60

Jobs versus the Environment 61

Is Population Stabilization Racist? 63

What About Eugenics?

Does Population Stabilization Discriminate Against the Poor? 65

Wealth Inequity 68

Usufruct, Cultures, and Religions 68

Does a Stable Population Lead to a Lack of Workers? 69

What is Wrong with a World of 3 Billion People? 73

Does Teaching or Using Contraception Increase Promiscuity? 75

Abortion 78

Migration 80

But at least it’s not me J 83

III : SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Enough Gloom and Doom! What can be Done? 86

Population Stabilization 89

Eliminating Waste 91

Energy Options 95

Nuclear 96

Solar 98

Water, Geothermal, and Biomass 100

Wind 100

Fuel Cells and Automobiles 104

What Can/Should We Do About Poverty and Debt?

IV : PAYING FOR AND ACHIEVING SUSTAINABILITY

Ecological Economics 111

The Need For Economics to Include Environmental Costs 111

The Failure of Traditional Economics to Take Population Problems Seriously113

What Happens if You Ignore Environmental Costs? 115

What Happens if You Include Environmental Costs? 117

Adam Smith’s “Invisible Hand” and “The Tragedy of the Commons” 119

How Could Ecological Economics Help Create a Better World? 121

Big Government 123

Free Lunch and Taxes 125

The Best Government Money Can Buy 126

The Biggest Waste 131

Why People Fight 132

Population and Conflict 134

Why Do We Spend So Much On Weapons? 135

Hastening the Evolution of Our Behavior 142

To Form a More Perfect Union 145

What Are We Fighting For? 149

Making Imperialism Obsolete 151

Where Do I Start? What Can I Do? 158

Cause For Optimism

V: Summaries:

Executive 165

Number-free 168

Action 170

VI: References 174

Imagine

“When he was just 16 years old Albert Einstein tried to imagine what it would be like to ride on a beam of light. . . In 1905, nearly a decade after this ‘thought experiment’ Einstein answered these questions with his Special Theory of Relativity.”

--American Museum of Natural History,

www.amnh.org/exhibitions/einstein/light

Imagine a world with no traffic gridlock, smog, or pollution. No developmental sprawl encroaching on farmland and wilderness.

Imagine a world with very little poverty, and an unprecedented level of affluence, comfort, and justice. No squalid slums, starvation, or ragged street children. No human trafficking, slavery, oppression, or forced labor.

Imagine healthy ecosystems, oceans, and ocean fisheries, with no acid rain, global warming, loss of rainforests, or widespread extinction of species.

Imagine no need for reliance on fossil fuels for our energy needs, (and therefore no need to fight over the Middle-East or drill in the Arctic wilderness) because we have plenty of renewable energy available.

Imagine excellent education and health care, not only for the wealthy, but for everyone. Imagine jobs and opportunities for all, but plenty of free time to enjoy life. Imagine potential terrorists pursuing useful careers, instead of wanting to kill innocent people. Imagine most potential immigrants choosing to stay home, because life is fine there. Imagine fewer people in jail, but less crime every year. Imagine abortions being so rare that the word is rarely mentioned, while women have better reproductive choices and freedom than any other time in the history of humankind.

Imagine our world freed from the brutality, horror, and expense of war; where “Right makes Might” rather than the other way around; where no person, and no nation is above the law; where torture and genocide are just a sad memory. Imagine democracy, self-determination, freedom of religion, human rights, and equal protection under the law for all the Earth’s residents. Imagine a world that gets better and better, and can go on indefinitely.

Better yet, help create that world.

We humans are imperfect creatures, unlikely to create a perfect world. Overcoming our pugnacious and cantankerous tendencies, greed, lust for power, general orneriness, and a myriad of other faults, to allow peace, harmony, and cooperation will be a formidable task. But together, we can create a far better world than the one we currently inhabit (and perhaps we must, or face serious consequences). So let’s get started. As Will Rogers said: “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”

Is the Life We Are Now Living Sustainable?

“I