Christopher Conner

This is the first time a poll like this has been taken , and it's some pretty startling stuff , said Christopher Conner , a spokesman for Negative Population Growth , an organization that claims 18 , 000 members nationwide.

What we found was that the longer a person has been in Florida , the more unhappy they are with the way the state is going.Some 72 percent feel that growth , sprawl and overpopulation are Florida's major problem , and 39 percent feel that Florida is generally worse off than it was five years ago..

It is estimated that Florida adds 650 new residents every day , a million every four years.Even at 1992 growth rates , each day we needed two new miles of roads , two new classrooms , two new teachers , two new police officers , one more jail cell and two more prison beds , according to a state-sponsored study.At current growth rates , each day we need 111 , 000 more gallons of fresh water than we did the day before.
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The poll of 500 voters , commissioned by a Washington , D.C. non-profit organization called Negative Population Growth , shows that population is a significant concern of Florida residents , said Deputy Director Christopher Conner , who visited Sarasota Wednesday.

Every environmental problem can be tied into a population problem , said Conner , explaining one of the voters' concerns.The poll also touched on issues such as the use of resources and costs for social services.

The poll's release coincides with heightened publicity about population in the United States and the world.Tuesday was designated the Day of Six Billion by the United Nations , to symbolically represent the day that the world's population crossed that threshold.

Florida's population is 15.3 million , and grows by about 750 people every day.
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Immigration has always been an emotional issue , said Conner.But what we're hoping to create is a dialogue about immigration policy..

Five percent of those polled in the survey were from Manatee , Sarasota or Charlotte counties.The poll's margin of error is 4.4 percent , and it was conducted in late September by the polling company of Washington , D.C.

Similar polls may be taken in other states , Conner said.

© Copyright 1999 Sarasota Herald-Tribune

State poll shows concerns about growth , population.

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We have too many people being born and too many immigrants coming in , said Christopher Conner , Negative Population Growth's deputy director.

He hopes the telephone poll of 500 likely voters statewide sparks a national debate and prompts Congress to reduce legal immigration into the United States by hundreds of thousands of people a year.

Fewer immigrants and smaller households -- with families voluntarily having fewer than two children per household -- would help curb the nation's population.

Conner was in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday , the day the United Nations expected the world population to reach 6 billion , to release the results of the poll taken in September.

Florida is seen as a microcosm of problems associated with rapid growth.Similar polls may be conducted in other states.

The poll results , with a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points , had few surprises : The longer people lived in Florida , the more concerned they were about growth , development , immigration , the environment and quality of life issues.

Negative Population Growth - Christopher Conner

Negative Population Growth - Christopher Conner