DENVER OVERPOPULATED BEYOND SOLVING PROBLEMS

In the past 15 years, America, via immigration, added 3.0 million citizens annually to a total addition of 45 million people.  As they piled up in California, Texas, Illinois and the East Coast—countless Americans discovered relief by moving toward middle states.

If allowed to continue, immigration will add 70 million more people within the United States by 2035—a scant 25 years from now.  With natural births from Americans, known as “population momentum”, the total will exceed 100 million additions to this country within three decades. (Source: “U.S. Population Projections” Fogel/Martin www.fairus.org)

Human population overload causes individuals to move toward lesser populated areas for relief of stress, pollution and other social abnormalities while seeking improved quality of life.

Because of human population overload, Colorado added 100,000 citizens  every year for the past 15 years to total 1.5 million newcomers—thus, our roads, highways and infrastructure could not handle the vehicle surplus.  Too many people, too few lanes and too many cars created Denver’s, Colorado Springs’ and Boulder’s agonizing daily traffic jams. 

Those conditions cause drivers in Denver 20-24 accidents every day of the work week.  You never know when you will suffer a smash-up that will cost you your life or damage your car.

The predicament morphed into I-70 also overloaded beyond its carrying capacity.  Thus, summer camper and winter skier traffic turns a fine weekend into a dangerous and exasperating ride home from the mountains.  Tunnel traffic regularly causes a ten mile backup. Another ten mile backup occurs at Idaho Springs.  If it’s rainy or snowy—good luck!

Denver Post journalist Jeffrey Leib wrote an outstanding piece on how DOT officials plan to alleviate the problem: add a reversible “zipper” lane eastbound on Sunday evenings. He interviewed all the usual ‘experts’. Their ideas might solve the traffic problem for the moment, but fail to solve the cause of the dilemma. In truth, he failed to interview anyone with a workable solution!

CU’s imminent Dr. Albert Bartlett said, “Can you think of any problem in any area of human endeavor on any scale, from microscopic to global, whose long-term solution is in any demonstrable way aided, assisted, or advanced by further increases of population, locally, nationally, or globally.” 

Bartlett also made a cogent point, “When any entity whether it be a human or animal—exceeds its mature weight, it suffers obesity or cancer.” In other words, it’s not healthy. Same with cities!

Forty years ago, Denver enjoyed 1.0 million people and the whole state housed 2.8 million people. We could deal with air pollution, traffic and quality of life.  At over 5.1 million in our state today, we exceed carrying capacity as to water, energy and resources.  At 2.3 million today, Denver cannot solve its problems whether air pollution, congestion, traffic, water shortages or the nightmare on I-70 on weekends.

If you look at the population growth rate, Colorado faces an additionally four to five million people within 40 years.  How about moving this state to a stable population?  How about a “Colorado Sustainable Population Policy” by remaining at our current 5.1 million people?  Why not lead the nation toward a stable, viable, safe and sane future for all Americans?  How about the Denver Post lead the nation in ‘solutions’ to population-based predicaments instead of 20th century ‘solutions’ guaranteed to fail?  How about reporters interviewing more forward thinking 21st century ‘idea’ persons for solutions?  How about new concepts based on common sense, dealing with numbers, living within carrying capacity and promoting quality of life?

Finally, our leaders in politics and the media must stop ignoring, evading, avoiding and suppressing the entire issue of overpopulation.  They either deal with it now, or all of us will deal with it later. We cannot run or hide from it.  We must come to terms with our overloaded human numbers.  We must move toward a stable, sustainable and environmentally balanced civilization.

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Frosty Wooldridge has bicycled across six continents – from the Arctic to the South Pole – as well as six times across the USA, coast to coast and border to border.  In 2005, he bicycled from the Arctic Circle, Norway to Athens, Greece.  He presents “The Coming Population Crisis in America: and what you can do about it” to civic clubs, church groups, high schools and colleges.  He works to bring about sensible world population balance at www.frostywooldridge.com  He is the author of:  America on the Brink: The Next Added 100 Million Americans.  Copies available:  1 888 280 7715