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Reprinted with permission from the Marshalltown, IA Times-Republican, May 29, 2002.

Bike rider raising awareness about overpopulation

By KEN BLACK
T-R Staff Writer

Ben Stallings, chief operating officer of World Population Balance, made a stop in Marshalltown on a 700-mile bike tour through Minnesota and Iowa to raise awareness for the cause.

According to Stallings, the world's population, which is currently at 6.2 billion, is too large to sustain. The past century saw an unprecedented growth in the world's population, more than doubling in approximately half a century.

"We don't expect it to double again, but we're having trouble sustaining what we have today," Stallings said.

Ben Stallings rides his bike through Marshalltown on a 700-mile tour to raise awareness of overpopulation. Stallings is talking with local media in various cities and visiting with people about the issue. Staff Photo by Ken Black

While most of the problem with uncontrolled growth is happening in Third World countries, Stallings said the United States also bears some blame for the current state of the matter. The United States itself has a growing population, but most of that is due to immigration. Without that, Stallings said the nation's population would remain relatively stable.

But the United States contributes to the problem in another way.

"Population in itself is not a problem. The problem is people do consume resources and produce waste," he said. "We are a huge problem because of how much we consume."

As an example, Stallings said a woman in India would need to have 25 children before reaching the consumption and waste impact of one child in the United States.

Stallings also mentioned that to keep the population at a constant, women would need to bear an average of 2.1 children in her lifetime.

He also said some progress has been made, noting that some European countries have stemmed population growth and even reduced somewhat.

"Some people say that's bad. For example, they fear Italy will run out of people. I don't think that's a problem. We know how to increase the population. We're very good at it," Stallings said.