These numbers are sobering. They indicate a global
ecological deficit—an excess of global land use above
global land capacity – of about 8 billion acres
per year…over a quarter (28 percent) of all available
land.
And
the U.S. has the dubious distinction of having both the
largest ecological footprint (6.9 billion acres—Table
1) and the largest ecological deficit (3.1
billion acres). Americans consume 84 percent more
productive land than we actually have.
The
gap is filled by importing natural resources (mainly
oil) and by depleting our own deposits of
non-renewable fuels like oil, gas, and coal—which
provide us, in effect, with fossilized acreage from the
geologic past. [Leon Kolankiewicz and Roy Beck, “
Forsaking
Fundamentals," Center for Immigration Studies,
March 2001.]
Of
course, the Ecological Footprint is not as absolute as
many environmentalists think. Economists would argue
that
technological innovation leads to the
more efficient use of resources, slowing and
possibly reversing the growth of per capita consumption.
In
the long run, that is—maybe. In the short run, per
capita consumption is fairly fixed. So population is by
far the major driver of the Ecological Footprint in the
U.S. And immigration is the major driver of U.S.
population growth.
New
arrivals from, say, Mexico, quickly start
consuming at U.S. levels. For example,
The Journal of Housing Research forecasts, for
example, that “The
aggregate
housing consumption of immigrants will rise
substantially in the next 15 years as past
waves of immigrants move up the
housing consumption ladder.”
The
result:
