OUR MISSION
Envisioning a sustainable, healthy and happy human population living in harmony with the natural environment.
Utah and UPEC
Utah’s beautiful, pristine, and expansive natural environment has been greatly degraded in recent years, fueled by high population growth and rapid growth of its resource extraction-based economic sectors. Utah’s leaders are actively planning to accommodate a predicted doubling of the population in the next 20 to 30 years – especially along the urban Wasatch Front.
UPEC was founded in 1997 initially to provide a data-based foundation for considering population and environment concerns and issues. It is managed and directed by board members who meet regularly (please see Who We Are).
We believe it is our responsibility as citizens of the earth to be concerned about the environment, sustainability, and population. We place special value on the unique heritage and landscape of the state of Utah.
Read UPEC’s Updated White Paper
We all face many important choices as we live our lives and form relationships with others, and with society as a whole. Many factors influence population levels, of course, but this white paper will discuss one of the most personal and important choices we face that affects our population — how many children to bring into this world — and the implications of this choice for ourselves, and our state, nation, planet. READ MORE
Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. In 2021, it fell on July 29.![]()
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The website is highlighting 100 Days of Possibility, ways for each country, city, or business to ready themselves for a world increasingly defined by overshoot.![]()
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www.overshootday.org/
Earth Overshoot Day 2021 Home - #MoveTheDate
www.overshootday.org
Overshoot occurs when humanity's demand on nature exceeds Earth's bioc...
The relationship between immigration and world population growth is more complicated than it seems at first glance.
A Few Thoughts on Immigration | Utah Population & Environment Council
utahpopulation.org
To begin with an understatement, immigration is a highly controversial...
Today (July 11) is World Population Today. We could, of course, barrage you with some depressing facts and news on this occasion, but, really, the heatwave is accomplishing that twice over. Instead, how about some .... Penguins. We rarely serve as TV critic here at UPEC, but we heartily recommend "Penguin Town" on Netflix. Yes, there's some important environmental stuff here; these South African penguins don't have enough natural habitat to live in, forcing them to walk upwards of half a mile from their suburban nests to the sea. But mostly, the show is just pure fun. ![]()
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2X-1Ui3G48
Penguin Town | Official Trailer | Netflix
www.youtube.com
You’ve never met penguins like these before. Forget ice and snow, th...
Happy summer from UPEC! Read our July Newsletter here: bit.ly/3dSzncW
July Newsletter | Utah Population & Environment Council
utahpopulation.org
Happy summer from UPEC, and fingers crossed that the virus won’t mou...
Project Syndicate reminds us about the benefits of a declining birth rate and population. Echoing UPEC's white paper, the article highlights that we can have increasing per capita consumption with a declining population.
The Upside of Population Decline | by Adair Turner - Project Syndicate
www.project-syndicate.org
A pervasive conventional bias assumes that population decline must be ...Upcoming Events
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