Population growth rates less than or equal to zero are necessary, but are not sufficient, conditions for halting the destruction of the environment. Individuals who benefit from growth will continue to exert strong pressures supporting and encouraging both population growth and growth in rates of consumption of resources. The individuals who promote growth are motivated by the recognition that growth is good for them. In order to gain public support for their goals, they must convince people that population growth and growth in the rates of consumption of resources are also good for society. When large efforts are made to improve the efficiency with which resources are used, the resulting savings are easily and completely wiped out by the added resource needs that arise as a consequence of modest increases in population.
Humans have an enormous compulsion to find an immediate use for all available resources.
The benefits of large efforts to preserve the environment are easily canceled by the added demands on the environment that result from small increases in human population. When rates of pollution exceed the natural cleansing capacity of the ecosystems, it is easier to pollute than it is to clean up the environment. This law should be a central part of higher education, especially in engineering. Thirteenth Law Humans will always be dependent on agriculture. Supermarkets alone are not sufficient.