Alan Kuper, an Ohioan who led the battle to put the immigration question… ``U.S. population growth is one of the great environmental issues of this age,'' he said. ``Of course, it's sensible to try and lower population worldwide, but because of our consumption and resource use, we must stabilize our population too.'' Patricia Waak, the director of the Population and Habitat Campaign for the National Audubon Society, acknowledged that the debate makes many environmentalists uneasy. `We are watching this very carefully,'' she said. ``It's an extremely divisive issue. Let's face it, it's hard to address immigration without being labeled a racist -- especially because the environmental community is mostly white and upper middle class.'' Alan Kuper, an Ohioan who led the battle to put the immigration question… ``U.S. population growth is one of the great environmental issues of this age,'' he said. ``Of course, it's sensible to try and lower population worldwide, but because of our consumption and resource use, we must stabilize our population too.'' Patricia Waak, the director of the Population and Habitat Campaign for the National Audubon Society, acknowledged that the debate makes many environmentalists uneasy. `We are watching this very carefully,'' she said. ``It's an extremely divisive issue. Let's face it, it's hard to address immigration without being labeled a racist -- especially because the environmental community is mostly white and upper middle class.''

Word Count: 228