sex

We must strive to meet the U.N.'s low population projection of 8 billion by 2041

Some 43 countries around the world now have populations that are either essentially stable or declining slowly. In countries with the lowest fertility rates, including Japan, Russia, Germany, and Italy, populations will likely decline somewhat over the next half-century. A larger group of countries has reduced fertility to the replacement level or just below. They are headed for population stability after large numbers of young people move through their reproductive years. Included in this group are China and the United States. A third group of countries is projected to more than double their populations by 2050, including Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda.

United Nations projections show world population growth under three different assumptions about fertility levels. The medium projection, the one most commonly used, has world population reaching 9.2 billion by 2050. The high one reaches 10.8 billion. The low projection, which assumes that the world will quickly move below replacement-level fertility to 1.6 children per couple, has population peaking at just under 8 billion in 2041 and then declining. If the goal is to eradicate poverty, hunger, and illiteracy, and lessen pressures on already strained natural resources, we have little choice but to strive for the lower projection.

Slowing world population growth means that all women who want to plan their families should have access to the family planning services they need. Unfortunately, at present 201 million couples cannot obtain the services they need. Former U.S. Agency for International Development official J. Joseph Speidel notes that "if you ask anthropologists who live and work with poor people at the village level ... they often say that women live in fear of their next pregnancy. They just do not want to get pregnant." Filling the family planning gap may be the most urgent item on the global agenda. The benefits are enormous and the costs are minimal.

Slate encourages local dating for green’s sake

You try to eat locally, but do you, um, eat out locally? With the argument that long-distance dating hurts the earth, Slate says you should. The idea that many folks are “willing to be a locavore but not a locasexual,” as author Barron YoungSmith puts it, builds on the notion of eco-hypocrites who aren’t willing […]

The surprising benefits of seasonal eating

In Checkout Line, Lou Bendrick cooks up answers to reader questions about how to green their food choices and other diet-related quandaries. Lettuce know what food worries keep you up at night. Your food or mine?   Lou, I am curious about any benefits of eating seasonally — the foods or products that are traditionally […]

Sex and drug scandal at Interior could affect the offshore-drilling debate in Congress

Yesterday’s revelation that 13 Interior Department employees who handle oil royalties are under investigation for allegedly engaging in illicit sex with and accepting gifts from employees of oil companies may affect the debate over drilling currently underway in Congress. An Inspector General’s report describes a “culture of substance abuse and promiscuity” at the agency, which […]

Interior Department employees under investigation for sex, drugs, and bribe scandal

Thirteen government officials are under investigation for allegedly engaging in illicit sex with and accepting a number of gifts from employees of energy companies, according to federal investigators. The probe involves Interior Department employees in the Denver and Washington offices, who handle billions of dollars in oil royalties. At the Denver Minerals Management Service, the […]

Animal rights group called out for repeatedly exploiting women

Yesterday, The Sydney Morning Herald had a piece about PETA titled, “Why does a pro-vegetarian organisation treat women like meat?” Good question. The women-as-meat connection’s nothing new — 1990’s Sexual Politics of Meat, anyone? But it’s especially ironic coming from a group that asserts, “Animals are not ours to use for entertainment.” Seattle’s stellar Erica […]

An interview with Bonk author Mary Roach

Photo: cybertoad Ah, sex. Source of carnal bliss, domestic harmony, cute infants … and global population problems. (Oh, environmentalists are such killjoys.) Overpopulation aside for the moment, sex is fundamental to humanity, and to the rest of the natural world — and besides, it’s a dang fascinating subject, as Mary Roach found out while researching […]

Norwegian fuck-tivists on VH1

I’m not saying that I happened upon, and then proceeded to watch, half of the truly classy Freakiest Concert Moments of All Time on VH1 last night. But if I had, I would have been delighted to see our favorite eco-porn activists in the top slot. Yes, Tommy and Leona’s on-stage antics were #1 on […]

Commute by bike, get lucky

From a Hungarian PSA (No translation necessary. Mostly safe for work; use headphones):

Rarrrrrr. Turns out, Hungary has an entire government position devoted to promoting bicycling.

In Hungary, the Ministry of Economics and Transport actually has a Deputy Minister for cycling by the name of Adam Bodor. Bodor's job, put simply, is to get people on their bikes.

Now, why can't the U.S. do that?