Sustainable Population Australia (SPA) is mourning the death of Paul Ehrlich, aged 93, co-author with his wife Anne of the 1968 seminal book The Population Bomb.
- Dr Paul R Ehrlich was former Professor Emeritus of Population Studies at Stanford University’s Department of Biology.
- Ehrlich was a panellist on the ABC program ‘QandA’ in 2015, advocating on behalf of a sustainable population. SPA patrons Bob Carr and Tim Flannery were also past panellists on the program.
SPA experts are available for further comment
Peter Strachan – National President, Sustainable Population Australia
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0412 400 952 (available after 06:30am AWST)
Quotes attributable to Mr Strachan:
“The Population Bomb warned of the consequences of population growth, including famine and resource depletion. The book introduced millions of people to the concept of the Earth having finite limits.”
“Dr Ehrlich’s outlook on the likelihood of massive global famine intersected with a doubling of the application of finite, non-renewable fossil fuels to produce petroleum-derived fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides.”
“Global human population has risen by 5 billion since the book was published, stretching the limits of sustainability and underlining that the general thrust of Ehrlich’s work was correct, raising obvious questions for the future.”
“Ehrlich’s position on overpopulation has received considerable retrospective criticism, especially regarding predictions he made in the late 1960s. In response to criticism of the book’s flaws, Ehrlich said in 2009, “perhaps the most serious flaw in The Bomb was that it was much too optimistic about the future."
Jenny Goldie - Former President, Sustainable Population Australia
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0401 921 453
Quotes attributable to Ms Goldie:
“Ehrlich was keynote speaker at the successful 2013 Fenner Conference in Canberra on the Environment, called Population, Resources and Climate Change organised by Sustainable Population Australia.. Paul said afterwards it was the best meeting he had ever attended.”
About us:
SPA is an independent not-for-profit organisation seeking to protect the environment and our quality of life by ending population growth in Australia and globally, while rejecting racism and involuntary population control. SPA is an environmental advocacy organisation, not a political party.