The World is Flat! at least on the Western Slope

By Fred Elbel on 10 December 2012
Tags: 
growth
population

The world is flat! At least that is what some dullards on the Western Slope proclaim.

In the December 8, 2012 Grand Junction Sentinel article Western Slope population growth slows, author Gary Harmon begins with an uplifting announcement:

Western Colorado’s buoyant growth rate during the first decade of the century slowed, and for a time reversed, according to state estimates...Mesa County saw a 0.8 percent annual growth rate from 2010 to 2011, while Delta County’s population was down 1.5 percent and Montrose County’s down 0.4 percent.

The article then goes on to illustrate our purportedly well-informed State Demographer worships at the altar of infinite growth:

State Demographer Elizabeth Garner remains optimistic that the region already has resumed growing and that its long-term prospects are for better, if not brighter days.

It seems that Harmon and Garner are on to a little secret: the world is flat (or at least it is in Grand Junction), and infinite growth really is possible! Because unless the earth is flat, infinite growth must stop.

The rule of 70 states that to find the doubling time of a growing quantity, simply divide 70 by the growth rate. So using Garner's data, 70 / .8% = 87.5 years. Thus, if the measly growth rate of .8% remains constant, Mesa County's population will double in 87.5 years.

That will mean twice the number of houses, cars, stop lights, schools, hospitals, and jail cells. Twice the demand for Colorado's dwindling water, twice the pollution and twice the garbage. Twice the demand for food which must be grown in other parts of the country. Twice the demand for petroleum - which we are already importing from other countries.

But that's not enough for Garner, who proclaims:

There won’t a sharp population increase, Garner said, “but at least there will be positive growth over the next decade.”

Clearly there is a difference between a positive growth rate and any imagined positive benefits of growth.  Garner confuses the concepts and Harmon willingly buys in.

So let's forge ahead with infinite growth in Colorado. No need to worry - the world is flat! If we're wrong, let our kids deal with it.

The CAIRCO Report
Advocating for the rights of future generations of Americans.
Our primary focus includes issues of Western Civilization, American sovereignty, sustainability,
and the environmental and societal consequences of unending immigration-driven population growth.
This website is a project of Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform (CAIRCO) - founded in the mid 1990s.
Copyright 1995-2024 Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform
Fair Use: This site contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues related to mass immigration and the transformation of America. We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information, see: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107, https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/108, https://www.law.cornell.edu/treaties/berne/10.html, and https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fair_use. In order to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.