Over the Limit

The most pressing environmental issue in my opinion is over-population. Although it is not a specific environmental concern, it is the issue that encapsulates all others. If I had $100 billion dollars to fix a problem, this would be the best use of my money as it will make a dramatic difference for a multitude of environmental issues such as lack of farmland and the over-use of resources. We are simply over our environmental carrying capacity and our technology is amazing, but it has tricked us into believing that we will just magically invent a way to solve it. Our space on this planet is not infinite and if we don’t make changes it will end in disaster. The first thing I would do with the money would be to raise awareness. Like any cause, the people need to be educated and it seems the only way to do this is a massive worldwide ad campaign to get people talking. Once people are aware of the problem it will be easier to implement policies. Birth control pills, the morning after pill, and abortions will be subsidized worldwide. In the United States I would propose a program to promote couples not having children. China had the right idea but they relied on negative re-enforcement to fix over-population. With my idea, I would reward families for complying but still give them a choice. If a couple decides to not have children, have been married at least 5 years, and have reached the age of forty (or whatever age a women would typically not conceive), they will get a $20,000 tax-credit voucher to be used as a down payment for a home. Not only will this help over-population but it will also boost the economy and the housing market. This will have to be given under the mother’s name since it would be difficult to track the father’s paternal history. Other benefits could be given to singles or married couples that only have 1 child but this would be the main benefit. Part of the credit could be government subsidized since it will cause an economic boost and yearly tax breaks for non-parents would also help motivate people in the short term. Any extra money should be used for education in the schools to teach children about the problem early on.