Zuckerman and the Environmental Connection

Is it necessary to address United States population growth from an environmental perspective? Driven by mass immigration, United States population is projected to double within the lifetimes of children born today.^16,17,18,19 In the article "The Environmental Argument for Reducing Immigration to the United States", Philip Cafaro and Winthrop Staples III point out that

At the current level of 1.5 million immigrants per year, America’s population of 306 million is set to increase to over 700 million people by 2100. Recent “reform” proposals would actually increase immigration to over two million annually, which has the potential to nearly triple our population to over 850 million by the end of the century. Conversely, scaling back immigration to 200,000 per year would greatly reduce America’s population growth, according to studies by the U.S. Census Bureau.
 
Given the many issues that environmentalists must deal with and the contentious nature of immigration debates, it is understandable that many of us would prefer to avoid them. But the reality is that across the country, environmentalists are losing the battle to create a sustainable society and protect wild nature. Sprawl development destroys 2.2 million acres of wild lands and agricultural lands each year; over 1300 plant and animal species remain on the endangered species list, with more added each year; water shortages in the west and southeast are being used to justify new river-killing dams and reservoirs; and U.S. carbon emissions continue to rise. Obviously, we haven't figured out how to create a sustainable society with 300 million inhabitants. It’s not plausible to think we will be able to do so with two or three times as many people…
 
Americans must choose between sustainability and continued population growth. We cannot have both." ¹⁵

Thus it is not unreasonable for an informed environmentalist to be concerned about the relationship between immigration-driven U.S. population growth and environmental degradation. Indeed, it would be irresponsible not to be concerned.

Ben Zuckerman is an ardent environmentalist who is deeply concerned about the impact of our growing human population on our diminishing natural environment. He states:

Whether it is air pollution in the cities or sprawl in the suburbs, farmland conversion in the valleys or deforestation in the mountains, Americans are destroying the natural systems that keep us alive physically and spiritually. Each year we pave over an area about equal to the state of Delaware for more roads, housing developments, shopping malls and industry. For most resources including energy, per capita U.S. consumption has stabilized, but overall use is increasing, driven higher by continuing growth of the U.S. population…
 
If the U.S. continues to accept current levels of legal and illegal immigrants, then the U.S. population could double in 80 years… [but] the time required to halve our per capita energy consumption is unlikely to be less than 80 years. Thus, in the absence of better immigration laws, we can be pretty sure that the total U.S. ecological footprint will not be smaller in the year 2100 than it is in 2000 and it might be much bigger….
 
The unforgivable thing is that we know all of the above. But we refuse to do anything about it, falling back on our old faith in a limitless continent and open frontiers that will last forever." ¹²