August 28, 2018 – Climate Change and Health

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Anchor lead: Helping control fertility may be one key to managing climate change, Elizabeth Tracey reports

More natural disasters, deaths due to extreme heat, expanded territories for disease carrying insects, these are just a few of the consequences of climate change impacting health. Travis Rieder, a bioethicist at Johns Hopkins, and colleagues, have published a paper advocating for population control to help, with a reasoned argument for those who say we need increasing populations for economic reasons.

Rieder: We’re facing an environmental migrant crisis, refugee crises concerning civil wars, and various sorts of violent conflict. Here’s a way that you can boost your population for an economy and just be self-interested. You don’t even have to care about justice. Let in more immigrants, and reduce the number of native population by reducing fertility. You’re simultaneously doing the work of justice by helping people who need homes, and not contributing to the sort of growth that’s harmful for climate change.   :32

Rieder says for wealthy countries, taxing more than replacement fertility may also be considered. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.