One Earth, 8.3 Billion Lives: The Urgent Choice for Harmony

In last month’s article, I paid tribute to Al Gore on the 20th anniversary of his 2006 blockbuster documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.”

In the film, Gore says, “We are witnessing a collision between our civilization and the earth.”  He lists three primary factors causing this collision.

The first is overpopulation, meaning a population so large the earth cannot sustain it. When he made his film and analysis in 2006, the global population stood at around 6.6 billion people. Today, in 2026, we are at 8.3 billion and climbing with devastating results. When Al Gore and I were born (1948 and 1947) we had just passed the 2 billion mark. We are at the beginning of the “baby boom generation.”

In the late 1960s, when I and the first baby boomers were entering college, and the global population was 3.4 billion, overpopulation was a big and widely discussed issue. 

In 1969, “The Population Bomb” by population researchers Paul and Anne Ehrlich became a bestseller largely leading to the creation of the John Rockefeller Commission on Population and the American Future backed by President Richard Nixon in 1969. 

The Commission found no need to further increase the American population — at that time, 202.7 million and now, 342 million. By 1972, after pressure from special interests and the Catholic Church, Nixon rejected the commission findings.

Even today, the Catholic Church not only rejects the idea of overpopulation, but actively encourages population growth — particularly in Italy, where there is a population decline.  

The late Pope Francis, an ardent environmentalist, declared, “The problem is not how many of us there are in the world, but what kind of world we are building.” (quoted by Carol Glatz in the Catholic News Service, May 10, 2024) 

Pope Francis’ opinion reminds me of the saying, “Live simply so that others can simply live.”  More and more and more “others” living simply does not solve the many environmental problems of overpopulation.  

Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson, the founder of Earth Day in 1970, later said, “The bigger the population gets, the more serious the problems become.” (quoted by Michael Hanauer in his Negative Population Growth article “The True Environmental Disaster — The Silence on Our Growing Overpopulation,” NPG Forum Paper, May 2020)

In his article, Hanauer wrote: “There is nary an environmental problem that is not impacted by this overarching issue. Population is the universal problem multiplier.”

In the large body of Buddhist environmental writing, very little attention has been paid to overpopulation, birth control and family planning. Two of the most articulate scholars addressing the issue are the late professors Dr. Rita Gross and Dr. William R. LaFleur, both writing over 25 years ago.  

Many of Dr. Gross’ articles are contained in her books or as contributions to other books such as “Dharma Rain” (edited by Stephanie Kaza and Kenneth Kraft, 2000).  

Dr. LaFleur has an excellent and rather inflammatory article/open letter in the summer 2000 issue of Tricycle magazine titled “Dear Pope John Paul” calling for an end to “fecundism,” a term defined as the religious or cultural insistence on maximizing human reproduction as a moral imperative.

Recently, an interesting article appeared in the magazine Population Connection (March 9, 2026) by Kirsten Slade titled “Religion and Fertility:  A Connection Rooted in Patriarchy” where the author quotes the Dalai Lama (with a link to the original quote in Demographic Research, Volume 32, Article 1, Jan, 6, 2015, pages 6-7): 

“From a Buddhist viewpoint every human being is precious, and one should avoid family planning and birth control. But then if we look from the global level, that precious human life is now overcrowding the world. As a result, not only is it a question of survival of a single human being but that of the entire humanity. Therefore, the conclusion is that family planning is necessary provided it is based on nonviolent principles.”

I could point to one environmental problem after another that is either caused by or made worse by overpopulation. Certainly, the number one issue of our time is climate change and, as we have seen, Al Gore in 2006 listed overpopulation as a primary cause.  

To me, without religious and/or political-economic pressure getting in the way, the critical issue that needs to be addressed is: What is the human carrying capacity of the earth, a sustainable, harmonious capacity, given a particular lifestyle. In a sustainable, harmonious relationship with the earth, more people call for less consumption and fewer people allow for more.

For those who decide not to have children, I think there is a spiritually dangerous temptation to become self-indulgent and pleasure oriented. I think this is also true for singles or couples who often live together and those who wait years to start a family with all its responsibilities.  

Rather than filling these years with various kinds of self-centered activities such as shopping, vacations, dining, entertainment, etc., these are the years when opportunities for volunteering, for giving, are everywhere if you just seek them out. This is where real happiness lies.

On a final note, whether you agree with me concerning overpopulation or disagree, it doesn’t make either one of us a better or worse Buddhist. We are both, along with all sentient beings, unconditionally embraced in Amida Buddha’s boundless spirit as expressed in the Primal Vow.  

That being said, if you disagree with this article, I would be most interested in knowing your reasons.