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HomeMy WebLinkAboutresolution.council.114-99 f" r"" /*"*', RESOLUTION #114 (Series of 1999) A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, SUPPORTING POPULATION STABLlZATION IN THE UNITED STATES WHEREAS, the population of the United States reached about 274 million in 1999 and is growing by approximately 3 million each year, over 57,000 weekly, the highest population growth rate of the developed countries of the world. Most European countries are at zero or negative population growth, and WHEREAS, the population of the U. S. is 6 % of the world's population and consumes up to 25 % of the world's natural resources, and WHEREAS, the ability of the U.S. to support a population within its carrying capacity is now strained because of population growth. 50 % of our original wetlands have been drained to accommodate growth. 95 % of all U. S. old growth forests have been destroyed. It is estimated that we have consumed approximately % of all our recoverable petroleum, and we now import more than half of the oil we consume in the U. S. America's underground aquifers are being drawn down 23 % more than their natural rates of recharges, and WHEREAS, for each person added to the U. S. population, about one acre of open land is lost, causing a total yearly loss of about 3 million acres. American annually exports $40 billion in food. If present population trends continue, the U. S. will cease to be a food exporter by about 2030, and WHEREAS, the report of the Task Force on population and consumption of the President's Council on Sustainable Development (1996) said, "The two most important steps toward sustainability are: 1. to stabilize the population promptly, and 2. to move toward greater material and energy efficiency in all production and use of goods and services". The President's Council said, " . . . reducing immigration levels is a necessary part of population stabilization and the drive toward sustainability", and WHEREAS, population growth generated by mass immigration to the U. S. causes increasing pressures on our environment and forces local governments and communities to spend taxpayers dollars for additional o ........ ." - o ~. I schools, health care facilities, waste disposal plants, transportation systems, fire protection, water supplies, power generation plants and many other social and environmental costs, and WHEREAS, 70% of U. S. population growth in the 1990's resulted from mass immigration, comprised of approximately 1.2 million legal immigrants and 300,000 to 400,000 illegal immigrants plus their U.S. born offspring, annually. If mass immigration continues, the population of the U. S. is projected to exceed half-a-billion by 2050. WHEREAS, excessive population growth is unsustainable. With a return to replacement levels of immigration, U. S. population can expect to stabilize in another 40 to 50 years. A temporary, all-inclusive five-year immigration reduction to 100,000 annually, followed by a return to 200,000 annually, will eventually allow the U. S. to stabilize its population at best at about 325 million, and WHEREAS, a majority of Americans of all ethnic and racial backgrounds favors substantial reduction in legal immigration and a complete halt to illegal immigration, and WHEREAS, the people of the United States and the City of Aspen, Colorado, envision a country with a stable population, material and energy efficiency, a sustainable future, a healthy environment, clean air and water, ample open space, wilderness, abundant wildlife and social and civic cohesion in which t!Ie dignity of human life is enhanced and protected. NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE City of Aspen hereby petitions the Congress of the United States and the President to immediately implement - with deliberate speed and by means consistent with the Constitution of the United States, the consensus of the American people and the President's Council - legislation appropriate to stabilize the population of the United States and to insure sustainability; (1) that will encourage and promote all opportunities toward establishing and maintaining material and energy efficiency, social and environmental responsibility; (2) by a return to traditional replacement levels of legal immigration, approximately 175,000 all inclusive per year; (3) requiring equitable wages and benefits for workers and community environmental protections to be a part of all free trade agreements, and (4) by mandated' enforcement of our immigration laws against illegal immigration, thereby promoting the future well being of all the citizens of the nation and of the City of Aspen, Colorado. ,~ Dated: &~ J~ /qqy Rachel E. Richar s, Mayor I, Kathryn S. Koch, duly appointed and acting City Clerk do certify that the foregoing is a true and accurate copy of that resolution adopted by the City Council of the city of Aspen, Colorado, at a meeting held December 13, 1999. '"-_.; ~,,~. Ka n S. Koch, City Clerk ~ ~ -- /-\ r---.