One of the reasons that sustainability measures can be so easily sidelined in our efforts of prioritization is that value of the contributions of natural systems or the liabilities of their predicted absence never factor into the bottom lines of our society. In a culture of buying and selling products, natural capital rarely makes it to the balance sheet. The proposal of trying to effectively “price” the natural world offers an interesting solution to our unfettered assault on environmental assets, but even if it were ever enacted it is unlikely to have significant long term affects on how we live. Trying to commoditize the natural environment only tries to describe it within the confines of a limited language. The fact is that the natural environment has no finite value, but instead is uncompromisingly essential. Continue Reading…
