August 30, 2004
8/30 - Environmental Leadership: Don't look to the NY Times (not their job)
So what's the deal -- are we going to drown in an over-population crisis, or do we have this reproduction thing under control? Where do you find the answer to this? I'm not sure, but don't look to media outlets like the NY Times for it -- it's not their job. In yesterday's issue Andrew Revkin slaps a big "MAYBE" on the predictions of over-population.
But aren't we kind of bulging at the seams right now with only 6 billion folks? There seems to be a fairly solid consensus we're headed to 9 billion by 2050. Doesn't that qualify as "a lot more people." The point is that the job of journalists is not to provide guidance, only to report on all the opinions that are out there.
It's the Bjorn Lomborg school of thought.
The good news: you can get some information elsewhere and you don't have to surrender personal information to read it!
Overall, most population projections look like these US/Mexico border population graphs--going UP!
http://www.scerp.org/population.htm
So have our journalistic baselines shifted, too? Why are we not holding journalists to a higher standard? Why are we settling for "if it bleeds, it leads" and a lot of "Maybe"?