Turning Point USA

Last Sunday, CBS aired a 60 Minutes episode about environmentalism, climate change, and overpopulation which featured debunked climate alarmist Paul Ehrlich.

Ehrlich is a biological, professor, and is the author of the famous book “The Population Bomb” which was released in 1968. Ehrlich has spent his entire career arguing that humanity’s growing population will lead to global catastrophe if preventative measures are not put into place.

In his brief interview on 60 Minutes, Ehrlich argued that the current state of humanity is not sustainable. He stated that due to our modern lifestyles, “humanity is very busily sitting on a limb that we’re sawing off.”

Ehrlich has a history of fear-mongering and has made numerous claims that were debunked or proven to be untrue. In “The Population Bomb,” Ehrlich argued that by the 1970s, humanity will see massive famines that will result in hundreds of millions of deaths. Obviously, this turned out to be fabricated nonsense.

“The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970’s the world will undergo famines-hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate.”

Paul Ehrlich, “The Population Bomb” (1968)

Ehrlich’s hypotheses echo the beliefs of Malthusianism: a theory that states that population growth is exponential but resources and food supply are linear, therefore as the population grows there will be more instability until a catastrophe occurs. But history has not proven this to be true.

In 1980, economist Julian Simon challenged Ehrlich’s theories. Simon disagreed with Ehrlich’s assessment that population growth strains global resources. He argued that human beings have and always will innovate and adapt to increase the availability of resources that reduce costs.

To put his theories to the test, Simon proposed a friendly wager with Ehrlich. Simon bet Ehrlich to select 10 resources and over the next 10 years, they would see if the average price of these resources would increase or decrease. Ehrlich selected the resources he believed would increase because of population growth. Ultimately, Ehrlich lost the bet — over the following 10 years, those resources had a 30% decrease in prices.

Ehrlich’s theories are not just inaccurate, they are also dangerous. Ehrlich’s proposed solutions to combating overpopulation have been radical, to say the least. He has stated that if voluntary steps are not taken to reduce birth rates, compulsive methods should be implemented. His suggested methods include placing a tax on individuals for having children, and a luxury tax on baby products like diapers and cribs. He has even stated the idea of putting “temporary sterilants” in the water supply and cutting food aid from third world countries.

It is a common occurrence for the so-called “climate experts” to have a history of making baseless claims that turn out to be completely untrue. Former Vice President and now climate activist Al Gore previously stated that our climate would reach a “point of no return” by 2016 if we did not significantly reduce greenhouse gases. But this is clearly untrue as well.

Real conversations need to be had about the environment and mankind’s contributions to growing carbon emissions and pollution. But by fear-mongering, making unfounded claims, and criticizing those who have some skepticism as apostates, it is going to be far less likely for individuals to come together and enact real solutions and adaptive measures.