The bitter wrangle over immigration now threatening to topple the leadership of the Sierra Club has exposed a rift in the nation's environmental movement itself and placed prominent conservationists, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson, a founder of Earth Day, in opposing camps.
At the dawn of the modern environmental movement four decades ago, conservationists widely embraced the goal of global population control. They still do. But as they confront the prospect of a 50% increase in the U.S. population by mid-century -- mostly composed of immigrants and their children -- they are bitterly divided over whether to call for immigration restrictions.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday March 27, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 37 words Type of Material: Correction
Sierra Club -- An article on Page 1 on Wednesday about the Sierra Club debate over immigration restrictions erroneously referred to author Paul Ehrlich as a former Stanford professor. He remains a member of the university faculty.
On one side of the debate are Nelson and former Colorado Gov. Richard Lamm, who argue that it's not enough for environmentalists to support worldwide population stabilization. They believe the United States needs to set an example by stabilizing its own population -- in part, by taking a strong stand against the flood of newcomers.
On the other side, movement leaders, including Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope and Kennedy, head of Waterkeeper Alliance, say taking a stand against immigration risks alienating Latino and Asian immigrants who may represent the future of conservation.
Pope says that, although a global effort to control population is desperately needed, a national campaign against immigration will expose environmental groups to accusations of racism and xenophobia.
The issue is so sensitive that the leaders of some organizations, such as the National Audubon Society and the Natural Resources Defense Council, declined to venture opinions, while others admitted to being thoroughly conflicted.
Stewart Udall, who served as Interior secretary under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson and helped establish the nation's wilderness system, was an early proponent of global population control. He continues to hold those views, but worries about making immigration into a cause celebre.
"I just don't flatly disagree with the idea of slowing immigration," said Udall, now 84 and living in New Mexico, "but making it a big emotional issue is a mistake."
Leaders of the conservation movement have been warning about the perils of unchecked population growth since the 1960s.
Udall was one of the first conservationists to draw attention to the subject in his 1963 book "The Quiet Crisis." Former Stanford professor Paul Ehrlich followed more provocatively with "The Population Bomb," which was co-published by the Sierra Club.
