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The lead editorial in today's (Feb 14 2002) New York Times, about preserving endangered species, includes the following gem of an argument: "Nor is the problem the Endangered Species Act, which has to do with far more than the protection of flora and fauna. It speaks to the human condition as well: when an entire species is sufficiently threatened to require
protection, it usually means that the same ecosystem will eventually fail the humans who depend on it as well." Note the use of the words "usually" and "eventually." Guess the demise of the dinosaurs and the passenger pigeon means that the Earth will "eventually" fail humans, too. No mention by the Times of the fact that, as one American Museum of Natural History Exhibit put it, "Extinction is a natural process and some two-thirds of all animal species that existed have become extinct."

Smartertimes 14 Feb 2002

Beetle Blunder 

Remember that stirring Times editorial from Thursday? The one defending the wild salmon in Oregon that said, "Nor is the problem the Endangered Species Act, which has to do with far more than the protection of flora and fauna. It speaks to the human condition as well: when an entire species is sufficiently threatened to require protection, it usually means that the same ecosystem will eventually fail the humans who depend on it as well." Well, check out today's Times editorial on the Asian Longhorned Beetle. The Times refers to it as a "scourge" and a "pest" and calls for "nothing less than eradication of the Asian Longhorned Beetle on this continent." Well, by the logic of Thursday's editorial, once the Asian Longhorned Beetle is eradicated on this continent, humans won't be far behind. There's no attempt in today's Times to explain what makes the Oregon salmon worth saving but the Asian Longhorned Beetle worth destroying. A cynic might say that the beetles are threatening to devastate trees in Central Park -- near the homes of the limousine liberals who write the Times editorials. The effort to save the wild salmon, however, is threatening only to devastate the livelihoods of Klamath Basin farmers, who don't write the Times editorials.

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Last modified: February 11, 2006