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  • Title: Countdown to Cairo: U.S. consumption weighs in.
    Journal: Cairo; 1994 May; 1(4):1-2. PubMed ID: 12288550.
    Abstract:
    Population pressures in the industrialized world affect long-term sustainability. The United States' population comprises only 5% of the world's total, yet it consumes 25% of the world's commercial energy, 27% of the world's aluminum, and over 20% of its tin, copper, and lead. Americans produce twice as much waste per person as most Europeans, and many times more than people in the developing world. Sustainable development is a central theme of the delegates to the UN's Cairo conference on population and development, and efforts to mitigate excessive resource use will undoubtedly be a topic. Delegates are searching for programs to help eradicate poverty; empower and advance women in education, employment, and health; and stabilize population growth. The adoption of policies to alter unsustainable and environmentally damaging patterns of consumption will be equally important. In April, 1994, President Clinton's Council on Sustainable Development set up a special task force to explore US population and consumption issues. US population pressures are becoming ever more visible: increasing traffic congestion, mounting garbage, air pollution, and severe water shortages. The US population, currently at 260 million, is the third highest in the world. The nation adds about 3 million to its population every year. The Census Bureau projects that by the year 2000, the population will reach 275 million. The national total fertility rate has risen to 2.1. In the industrialized world, only Iceland and Ireland, both at 2.2, are higher. The average American's energy use is equivalent to the consumption of 3 Japanese, 6 Mexicans, 12 Chinese, 33 Indians, 147 Bangladeshis, 281 Tanzanians, or 422 Ethiopians. It is uncertain whether metropolitan areas can meet the housing, health, education, and employment needs of millions more Americans. Policies in industrialized nations that reduce pollution and excessive resource use and slow population growth are needed to ensure a quality future for generations to come.
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