Agriculture is very much dependent on finite oil, and the idea that we can support endless numbers of people is lunacy. You have to take everything in the context of what allows it to exist, and will continue to allow it to exist. When global oil production peaks, the dream of endless growth will be revealed as the ultimate Ponzi scheme. And it already has been if you can see through the shallow GDP calculations that ignore physical depletion and log everything as “profit” in dollars only.

Also, the destruction of the natural world is ongoing and very serious to those who care about such things. Global overfishing already debunks hyped up carrying-capacity claims. You can say that someone is doing “fine” up until the time their food and water runs out, but failing to look at the process leading up to that time is critically dishonest.

He has scared a lot of people needlessly with his pronouncements. I am glad the truth has come out about his record. What a disgrace to science.

The Ehrlichs conclude: “These statements recognized that humanity has reached a dangerous turning point in its domination of the planet (Ehrlich and Ehrlich 2008), a view even more common in the scientific community today (e.g,, Hall and Day 2009). The same genius that allowed us to achieve that dominance now must be harnessed if we are to prevent our very success from sealing our doom. We think, with all its warts, The Bomb did exactly what we had hoped – alerted people to the importance of environmental issues and brought human numbers into the debate on the human future. It was thus a successful tract, and we’re proud of it.”

Read their retrospectiv at http://www.ejsd.org/public/journal_article/10.

He makes me feel like Justice Holmes, but this man has falsely yelled fire in a crowded theater too many times.