I have a problem, a few problems actually, with this essay recently reposted at Resilience.org, a source of great thinking and insights:

The Population Problem: Not as Bad as You Might Think

It’s not that I want to be “alarmist,” but the problem is worse than most people think. But I agree with and admire the intention of the author, Karen Lynn Allen. She wants us to know we can solve the problem, so let’s roll up our sleeves and get busy.

I have a real problem with population growth maintaining its undeserved place on the mantle of trophies for city success. Cities don’t grow their population in an alternative universe. They grow in the same overpopulated world of 7.4 billion currently killing our planet.

It’s a bit challenging to decide whether Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe belongs on the Wall of Shame or the Wall of Fame this week. His recent comments accepting Japan’s shrinking population – in the end – are dramatic enough that they outweigh his obvious worship of economic growth.

Today I applaud an eminently logical, but also heartfelt, response to mindless criticism of the suggestion that conceiving fewer children is a smart, clean, humane way to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

It’s easy to like Simon Ross, chief executive of UK-based Population Matters. This is a class organization, and Ross is one of the most articulate spokespersons for the sustainable population movement. Today we honor on the Wall of Fame this recent op-ed published by The Independent: