Population contradiction

As Zoe Russell stated (Peninsula News 8 Feb 2010), the staff of Gosford Council presenting the community information sessions on the council's Draft Climate Change Policy are to be congratulated.

It certainly gave a boost to the end of the week to hear about the number of positive achievements made so far.

It was even more exciting to hear the keynote speaker Mr Allen Kearns from the CSIRO talk about over population as the most important aspect of climate change, particularly in Australia, the driest populated continent on earth.

Our Prime Minister maintains that he believes in climate change and yet at the same time he is eager for our population to rise to 35 million.

Surely there is a contradiction here.

We are told that this is essential because there are so many of us at the tail end.

If present health improvements continue there will be an ever growing tail and so this problem will just get bigger.

Overpopulation is a large problem facing the whole world.

The signs are everywhere from the social unrest; the lack of water; lack of fish in the oceans; peak oil.

The list is endless.

It is surely essential for world leaders to face up to this reality and at least discuss it.

We must fight poverty everywhere and provide education for all, especially females.

We must stop thinking constantly about improving our own standard of living.

When are we going to be satisfied?

Nothing can go on growing forever, for we live on a finite planet and we share it with innumerable other species.

Email, 19 Feb 2010 Margaret Lund, Woy Woy Bay