Colcom Foundation’s philanthropic identity is rooted in a conviction that environmental sustainability and population stabilization are inseparable. The foundation traces this belief back to the first Earth Day in 1970, when addressing both per capita consumption and total population size were understood as twin imperatives for a livable planet. Fifty years later, the foundation argues, only one of those imperatives has been seriously pursued. Through their grants, they have supported many organizations, such as the Center for Biological Diversity, which works towards protecting endangered species, and the Sierra Club Foundation, which advocates for clean energy and climate solutions. These grants have helped to advance important causes and support organizations that strive to make a difference.

What Stabilization Would Have Looked Like

The foundation presents a counterfactual: when the U.S. fertility rate dropped below the replacement level of 2.1 in 1972, a genuine path toward population stabilization opened. Had immigration levels also been moderated, the 2020 population could have been as low as 255 million rather than 330 million. A smaller population would have meant fewer species listings, less land conversion, lower total CO2 output, and a more achievable path to the biocapacity targets the country nominally seeks. Instead, the foundation notes, immigration-driven growth produced 75 million additional people and a proportionally larger ecological footprint.

Colcom Foundation is direct about what it believes must follow from this analysis. Americans have the right and the responsibility, in its framing, to collectively decide how large their total ecological footprint will be. That includes decisions about immigration policy, not as a matter of hostility toward immigrants, but as a matter of environmental consequence. By 2065, 82% of all U.S. population growth is projected to result from immigration and its downstream effects.

A Philanthropy Built on the Long View

Colcom Foundation’s work reflects an understanding that environmental problems compound over decades. The 2.9 billion birds lost since 1970, the extinction of 23 species recently removed from ESA protections, and the steady climb of biocapacity consumption from 227% to 240% these are the accumulated results of decisions made and deferred over half a century. Colcom Foundation’s mission is to ensure that population stabilization returns to the center of environmental policy, where it stood on the first Earth Day, and where the foundation believes it belongs today. Read this article for related information.

More about Colcom Foundation on https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/311479839