Like it or not we've got too many people - in this country, on this planet. Oh yes, I know there are a lot of people out there who think the planet can support a far, far larger population. It's like the stupid Russian short story "How much land does a man need?"  Yes, after you're dead, nothing, not even the 6'x3' that the story talks about. But for the consumerist society of today - the old time agriculturists were pikers by comparision.

Consider this - a man [please include woman in 'man' - I don't have the patience to write man / woman or he / she everywhere] needs land for a house: small maybe, but some space, say 20'x30'. Then consider the land needed to grow his daily food - assuming he's veg and sticks to the bare minimum for nourishment. Then add the space needed for the power factory which runs his fridge, his TV, his computer, and all his other gadets. Then the space for his personal vehicle. The space for the factories to manufacture these items. The space for the factories to produce the soaps, household cleaners and toiletries he needs, the household products he needs [soap dishes, toothbrushes, buckets, etc.] - all assuming the bare minimum of consumption. Then add the fuel and raw material needed by all these factories and the land where the fuel is dug out or drilled out and the raw material grown or drilled out or dug out or otherwise got and the land where the fuel is processed before reaching the power generation stage.

Please consider that this ignores the 'lebensraum' or 'living space' that he requires. The holiday place, the environmental requirements, the corresponding forest land / green cover to preserve the climate, the land to be set aside to preserve bio-diversity. Calculate the total land area of the earth and deduct the absolute extreme portions where humans cannot survive - the slopes of the mountains, the deep desert land, the glaciated areas, et al. Calculate the minimum land required per human as described above. Divide the first by the second and arrive at maximum human population. Compare that to actual world population. Then factor in the consumerist society which actually requires around 10 times to 100 times that amount of land per human. Where are we headed?

I know I haven't done the calculations for you above - I wanted you to figure it out for yourselves.  It'll take a little effort to locate sources for the information but it's all there. Which brings me back to my original point - we desperately need to control human population. Signs of the stress on the environment are visible not only in climate change but also in game preserves being encroached, wild life being forced into contact with villages and towns as their habitats are despoiled, no areas where the "locals" will permit despoiling for the 'greater good' by allowing factories on farmland or power stations next door, etc.