The Selfish Environmentalist

I look at the earth as a gorgeous and rich ecosystem that does not need to justify its value. Life in all its diversity, abundance and wonder is its own justification. Until we realize that, we run the risk of destroying billions of years of evolution and are left leading lives detached from the wellspring from which we sprung. Thus we risk continued spiritual impoverishment even as we squander the wealth of geological ages.

But even if you take a very different view, that the earth is here to be exploited by humanity and the biosphere is a resource most properly bought and sold on the market, you may find we end up at a similar place on the questions of the environment.

Two articles today from Science Daily towards that common ground. The value of our wilderness is not best realized by chopping it down for forestry products or razing and filling it for crops and development. It provides services incalculably more valuable when allowed to thrive.

Case in point--the world wetlands hold as much CO2 as exists in the atmosphere as a whole, prevent flooding, clean our water, amongst a host of other valuable services. Global warming threatens their existence while we continue to destroy them through development and pollution. 

Forests similarly provide much greater value in producing clean water, preventing erosion, and sequestering CO2 than could ever be realized by their destruction.

An honest marketplace would reflect the true value of places like our wetlands and forests, which would make their short term profit making plunder economically unviable. When politicians want to open up pristine areas to development and logging, be certain you'll find a money trail leading to the crooks who want to steal these precious services from us for pennies on the dollar.