[transcriptase]

I’m not claiming it’s a natural process. I’m refuting the idea that as-is everything is perfectly balanced and serves some greater purpose in an ecosystem, which is what people offer up as emotionally charged arguments for preserving everything extant in perpetuity.

I’ve been involved in the establishment of several large collections for the long-term preservation of biodiversity. I’ve published on the advantages.

How do I feel about that framing?

It’s fair, and the focus should be on mitigating loss. Beyond never building anything anywhere I don’t see an alternative since the discussion at hand is about sand dunes and that’s still considered problematic.