Editorial: Census clock is ticking

Monday, July 24, 2006 | 7:17 a.m.

One person is born in America every seven seconds. One person dies every 13 seconds. One person immigrates here every 31 seconds. That's a net gain of one person every 10 seconds, which the U.S. Census Bureau predicts will bring the U.S. population to 300 million by this fall.

That's a whole lot of people - 131 million more than lived in the United States 50 years ago and 214.5 million more than lived here in 1906. America has become the third most populous country after China and India.

According to a recent story by USA Today, the United States is growing faster than any other industrialized nation. And the growth is propelled mostly by immigration, both legal and illegal. About 53 percent of the 100 million Americans added since 1967 are immigrants or their descendants, a Pew Hispanic Center demographer told USA Today.

Some experts say that Baby No. 300 million will be born in October and likely be of Hispanic heritage. Others say there is no way to tell - the 300 millionth resident might be an adult immigrant. Either way, immigration reform is a key issue in the mid-term elections that take place a month later.

America also is aging as it grows. The oldest Baby Boomers turn 60 this year, and the youngest turn 42. If the Social Security system remains unchanged, experts expect it to be depleted by 2041 - about the time the United States population is projected to hit 400 million.

A lot of people isn't necessarily a bad thing. For industrialized nations, population growth typically means economic and cultural growth. We just have to make sure we conserve natural and social resources for our future residents who, according to those who keep track, are coming - ready, or not.