A feed from http://www.population-matters.org/ of recent columns by Dr. Richard Grossman first published in the Durango (Colorado) Herald.
Republishing of the articles is encouraged with the request that they remain intact and are attributed to the author and initial publication in the Durango Herald. Questions can be directed to richard@population-matters.org
26 August 2025. Degrowth – Recently I wrote about 2 words that have negative implications to many people, “population” and “overpopulation”. I’m introducing a word that will be new to many people so, fortunately, it has few adverse meanings. What does “degrowth” mean? Being new, it has been used in a variety of ways. Wikipedia defines it as “…critical […]
25 July 2025. Does “Overpopulation” Carry Too Much Baggage?–7-2025 – Some words carry baggage, which may interfere with their utility, and even with their use. “Population” and “overpopulation” are examples of this vilification. For years people concerned about the human effects on our environment have avoided using the word “overpopulation”. Is it time to end that taboo? This word implies that there are too many […]
23 June 2025. Why do Environmentalists Avoid “Population”?—6-2025 – “The words ‘birth control’ and ‘population’ shouldn’t be in the same sentence. Indeed, they shouldn’t even be in the same room!” I was interviewing the president of a company that markets contraceptives. She belongs to an ethnic group that has suffered from genocide and involuntary sterilization in the past. She was quite adamant that family […]
23 June 2025. Margaret Sanger was not the First – Although she is often given credit for being the earliest to broadcast family planning in the USA, Margaret Sanger was not the first. However, perhaps she was the bravest since she was arrested eight times while trying to help women. You may remember Sanger as the woman who started family planning clinics in […]
28 April 2025. Is Durango a Reproductive Health Desert? – Well, the answer to the title’s question is “yes, no and maybe”. First, I should define a “reproductive health desert”. It is an area without a provider of reproductive health. Thus, there are maternity, fertility, contraceptive and abortion deserts. Cortez (Montezuma County) was a maternity desert for […]
27 April 2025. Sierra Club Population Policy – Environmental groups are only treating the symptoms of overpopulation Several years ago a friend asked if I would be interested in helping start a population interest group in what became the Sierra Club’s SW Colorado Group. Today the Group is going strong, including leading discussions about possible new mining […]
27 April 2025. Pronatalism – British family with 21 children, and the mother pregnant Elon Musk has stated “…population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming.” Musk is doing his part to prevent collapse—he’s fathered 14 children with multiple women. Musk is concerned because people are having smaller families […]
26 April 2025. FP2030 – Last month I wrote about the coalition of rich and poor countries, of foundations and nonprofits that delivered family planning to 46 million women—FP2020. Its successor, FP2030, has continued the same work, but with some changes. One of the involved nonprofits, the Margaret Pyke Trust (MPT), has introduced a new direction for FP2030. […]
26 April 2025. FP2020 – What if every woman in the world had access to her choice of safe, effective contraception? So far, this is a dream, but two programs are helping this dream come true. In the past, only members of the rich elite had access to family planning (at least among English-speakers). Francis Place in England […]
5 January 2025. Parenting isn’t for Everyone – When I was practicing, quite a few childless patients requested sterilization: “My profession keeps me too busy”, or “I’m concerned about the state of the world and don’t want to bring a child into a troublesome environment”, or “I don’t think I would be a good mother”. One woman, Elizabeth, came to me with […]