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).
OUR MISSION:Envisioning a sustainable, healthy and happy human population living in harmony with the natural environment
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.
Small Families is UPEC’s Utah media campaign encouraging all to consider family size when planning. The campaign uses phrases such as ‘it’s ok to plan’, ‘what’s your perfect (family size)’, ‘what are your reasons’, ‘it’s ok to be small’, ‘you two decide’, and more.
Measuring quality of life, not just market transactions. Traditional metrics for economic progress, like the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), measure monetary transactions. But not all monetary transactions are good for our societal well-being.
In 2007, we announced our first Vital Signs report: Utah Ecological Footprint Study. This report integrated data from many agencies and organizations, and calculated how well Utah is sustaining its unique natural heritage and preserving it for future generations.
A recent article in the Lancet medical journal has been getting a lot of press for predicting that the global population will decline sooner than most experts predict — at 9.7 billion in 2064. But a) that’s still way too many people for this roasting planet and b) the authors are more optimistic about improvements […]
With restrictions in place, millions stopped visiting clinics for contraceptives, says the government, which promotes family planning as part of its fight against child malnutrition… https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/10/world/asia/indonesia-coronvirus-baby-boom.html
projectsinsider@insider.com (Juliana Kaplan) Brookings Institute economists predict that the coronavirus pandemic will lead to what they call a “baby bust” — not a baby boom… https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/health-news/the-pandemic-could-lead-to-a-baby-bust-of-almost-half-a-million-fewer-births-a-major-think-tank-projects/ar-BB15CuYg?ocid=spartandhp
Your donation helps UPEC support voluntary planning for small families, track our ecological footprint, and promote new definitions of progress to achieve a sustainable human population in Utah.