we're not anywhere close to the natural limits, as we have plenty of technology and policy we could implement yet around resources like clean water, air, energy

we're not anywhere close to the natural limits, as we have plenty of technology and policy we could implement yet around resources like clean water, air, energy, and even space. the primary reason we don't is cost, both for externalities and for the remedies themselves. the 50-year plan for LA (the city) from about 50 years ago was projecting something like 7-8 million residents being housed here by now with basically the same current infrastructure. instead, we've only grown from 3 to 4 million in that time, largely because of various restrictions on development (zoning, prop 13, etc.). note that LA city is ~470 sq mi, in contrast to NYC which is twice the population and ~300 sq mi.