While we’re all busy counting food miles and building better windmills, we seldom take a step back and look at the elephant in the green room: our staggering population problem. Quite simply, we humans are too successful and we’ve got a sick planet getting sicker. Something’s got to give, but what? How? Population issues are a cultural, political, and moral hornet’s nest. But there is one factor that can influence population above any other: Women’s Rights. Empower women, save the planet. Of course, empowerment is a natural right of its own that needs no outer cause, but the fact that we might restore Terra Mama to boot sure sweetens the deal.
Whether to have children, and how many, is of course a very touchy subject. In underdeveloped countries the factors in these decisions tend to be immediate, whereas in developed countries we have the luxury of debating the long view. Eco-consciousness has made the womb a battleground, with each side claiming moral superiority and accusing the other of selfishness. Adoption is an ever-important conversation that brings out the passions. Those who have children are derisively called “breeders,” and there is serious talk of forced sterilization. There is even something called The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement, which hopes that humanity will stop baby-making altogether and die out none too soon. As Orwellian or silly as these solutions may seem, they do remind us of the magnitude of our population problem. Even if we don’t adopt a China-style one-child approach, it’s clear that the days of big families need to be over. No one can argue that each new life – now with longer and longer life spans - creates a new carbon footprint.
