How the One Child Policy Is Good for the Environment Essay Example
Elleka Watts
EVPP 337
Section 004
Fall Semester
Case Study Final
11/30/2011
An Evaluation of the One-Child Policy in a New Context: Is Population Capping the Answer to Environmental Sustainability?
Introduction
Case Study Country and Policy This case study will evaluate the One-Child Policy’s (OCP) effects on population growth in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in an environmental context. The author argues the OCP is environmentally sound because of its inherent purpose of retarding China’s population growth rate. Administering population caps has prevented additional environmental degradation that would otherwise have occurred had the OCP not been implemented. High-growth populations consume scarce limited resources which have adverse effects on the habitats and ecosystems in the local environment. In a world where the population is too high to sustain its limited resources, this is a major issue and leads to further problems such as environmental degradation and population starvation (Hardin, 1968; Young, 2005). The OCP has saved resources from being otherwise consumed by those unborn, and prevents China’s rate of environmental destruction from being more massive than it already is. This paper argues that the policy helps environmental sustainability and therefore the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) should continue enforcing the OCP. Other nations with high-growth rates should also consider implementing similar policies. Capping may be necessary in order to stop the direst environmental issue of all time – overpopulation. Capping may lessen the consequences of overpopulation such as its associated environmental challenges, poverty, inequality and economic instability as well (National, 2011). This paper advocates only for implementing population caps and does not endorse the cruel methods of policy execution the PRC has used for the OCP. Other suggestions for enforcement will be provided in the conclusion of this paper.
Why
EVPP 337
Section 004
Fall Semester
Case Study Final
11/30/2011
An Evaluation of the One-Child Policy in a New Context: Is Population Capping the Answer to Environmental Sustainability?
Introduction
Case Study Country and Policy This case study will evaluate the One-Child Policy’s (OCP) effects on population growth in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in an environmental context. The author argues the OCP is environmentally sound because of its inherent purpose of retarding China’s population growth rate. Administering population caps has prevented additional environmental degradation that would otherwise have occurred had the OCP not been implemented. High-growth populations consume scarce limited resources which have adverse effects on the habitats and ecosystems in the local environment. In a world where the population is too high to sustain its limited resources, this is a major issue and leads to further problems such as environmental degradation and population starvation (Hardin, 1968; Young, 2005). The OCP has saved resources from being otherwise consumed by those unborn, and prevents China’s rate of environmental destruction from being more massive than it already is. This paper argues that the policy helps environmental sustainability and therefore the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) should continue enforcing the OCP. Other nations with high-growth rates should also consider implementing similar policies. Capping may be necessary in order to stop the direst environmental issue of all time – overpopulation. Capping may lessen the consequences of overpopulation such as its associated environmental challenges, poverty, inequality and economic instability as well (National, 2011). This paper advocates only for implementing population caps and does not endorse the cruel methods of policy execution the PRC has used for the OCP. Other suggestions for enforcement will be provided in the conclusion of this paper.
Why