"Common sense tells us, " says Madeleine Bunting in The Guardian," that if the planet’s resources are being grossly depleted, there are just too many of us around."   Yet none of the environmental lobbying groups will mention this obvious fact  "because  of the unpleasant associations it brings with it."  If we admitted there were just too many people in the UK or Holland, for instance, people would either have to limit immigration , which would seem racist, or limit family size, which would seem authoritarian.  So instead the Green lobby tries to persuade people that if they recycle more they will be able to live  together in still greater numbers.   "How many more people can you squeeze into cities that already seem to be choking under the weight of their population density – the buses and trains all packed, the streets clogged, and the parks on a Sunday afternoon teeming with people?"