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If Moses had promised the Israelites a land flowing with mammary secretions and insect vomit, would they have followed him into Canaan? Though this means milk and honey, I doubt it would have inspired them.

We believe that pairs of words such as ecosystem services have value, and we celebrate cases related to the concept of ecosystem services. Ditto for words like natural capital. Still, the point is well taken from one of our favorite editorialists, reminding us that words matter:

So why do we use such language to describe the natural wonders of the world? There are examples everywhere, but I will illustrate the problem with a few from the UK. On land, places in which nature is protected are called “sites of special scientific interest”. At sea, they are labelled “no-take zones” or “reference areas”. Had you set out to estrange people from the living world, you could scarcely have done better. Continue reading →