Garrett Hardin

Garrett Hardin is professor emeritus of human ecology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. During the last three decades, he has been one of the most productive and influential scholars calling for Zero Population Growth (births equaling deaths) on planet Earth. In the following viewpoint, Hardin argues that those who rely on scientific progress to solve the problems of overpopulation are simply unwilling to face facts. To illustrate, he projects the costs of interstellar migration as a solution to overpopulation, and finds the equations unworkable.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. How much does Hardin estimate it would cost to send one person to a habitable planet 4.3 light-years away?
2. Hardin points out that it would take at least 350 years for humans to reach another habitable planet and that births would...