Literary Supplement , Feb. 20, featured a predictable review by Greg Terrill of four books on global warming, including Ross Gelbspan's and John Houghton's latest. In Germany, Reuters reports that the Green Party has just demanded a 300 percent increase in the gasoline tax, phased in over the next 10 years, to combat global warming. Finally, the UN Population Division has revised its world population forecasts downward by 0.8 billion, now saying that population will peak at 10.8 billion by the middle of the next century. Columnist Ben Wattenburg, a noted demographer, puts the figure closer to 8 billion by 2050, dropping to 7.2 billion by the year 2100. Whatever, the Sierra Club is taking no chances.
Membership is currently in turmoil over whether to support reductions in U.S. immigration.
The outcome, according to both environmentalists and their critics, could determine the movement's agenda into the 21st century. Until next week.