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Re: ENDANGERED AND EXTINCT SPECIES LISTS



	This is actually an interesting argument.  Yes extinction has been
ocurring before humans, but those species were chosen by nature to be
extinct.  The problem today, is not how to get rid of all forms of
environmental degradation, but bring environmental degradation in line with
society's objectives.  It is impossible to eliminate environmental
degradation.  The problems are market failures.  Within our economic and
social institutions, the market fails to price natural resources.  When a
consumer purchases fish at the market, they pay for the labor and capital
that went into the fish, but not the cost of the fish itself.  

	The same occurs with all natural resources.  Because most natural
resources, oceans, fish, forests, are commonly owned, and/or have undefined
property rights, we have no incentive to conserve them, and use these
resources in a sustainable fashion.  However, All economists would agree
that we should never drive species to extinction.  one fourth of all
medicine comes from plants; animals contribute to both the ecological
system and the economy.  More importantly biological diversity must be
preserved.  The loss of diversity constitutes environmental degradation,
even if it is replaced by an equally productive asset.  With the loss of
diversity we lose a development option for the future.  Saying that it's
okay to destroy a habitat that will cause a species to go extinct is a form
of myopia, and such degradation is not sustainable!


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