Going Green for Life

For what it's worth... http://gpso.wordpress.com/

[We'll continue taking pledges into February. To pledge, simply read
the GPSO Letter, then go to the contact page to email your pledge.]

Welcome to the website for the Global Population Speak Out (GPSO).
GPSO is a simple idea in response to our worldwide ecological plight.

The size and growth of the human population is a fundamental driver of
the crisis we face. If we hope to avert worldwide catastrophe, many
experts agree, we'll need a massive shift of attention and resources
toward humane measures designed to stabilize and ultimately reduce
world population to a sustainable level.

Yet there exists today a taboo of sorts against public discussion of
the population issue. Outside the scientific community, calls to
address population often meet vigorous, ill-informed criticism and
even hostility from both the left and right. [1] Understandably, few
in a position to speak out on population care to do so under such
conditions.

Change does not spring from silence. Clearly we must find a way to
break down this taboo and bring population to the center of public
discussion.

That's where GPSO comes in.
The GPSO idea

GPSO was born of a simple idea: What if a large number of qualified
voices worldwide, many of whom might not have emphasized the topic
previously, were to speak out on population all at once? The strength
of numbers might help weaken the taboo and bring population to a more
prominent position in the global discussion.
How it works

GPSO begins with an invitation (the GPSO letter) we're sending to a
large number of scientists and scholars, environmental, science, and
social policy writers, editors, and activists, staff members of
environmental NGOs, politicians, and a variety of prominent public
figures. As a group of concerned scientists and environmental writers
and activists, we invite them merely to pledge to speak out in some
way, during February, 2009, on the problem of the size and growth of
the human population.

But you need not be invited to pledge. We welcome unsolicited pledges.
See this page for details.

Importantly, participants can be sure they will have plenty of good
company in their efforts. Only if we get at least 50 commitments will
we ask respondents to honor their pledges. (We anticipate more.) If we
do, then GPSO happens; a minimum of 50, and perhaps many more
respected voices worldwide will speak out publicly on the population
issue during a single month.

Many of the invited participants will be speaking publicly on the
topic for the first time. Our strongest hope is to bring new voices to
the issue, to break down the barrier for others to follow. If GPSO is
highly successful, it will be a little easier after February for more
people to take up this crucial cause.
This site

Here on the website, you'll find information on the project, a copy of
the GPSO letter to potential participants, a list of the letter's
signers, a record of participants (pledgers) and their efforts to
speak out, a blog for updates, and materials helpful to participants
in formulating their messages or to others seeking basic information
on the global ecological crisis and its link to the size and growth of
the human population.

Thanks for stopping by, and please check back for updates in the near
future.