Puget Sound Pricetag?

I made it down to Portland this afternoon for my daughter's soccer tournament. After a week of iffy weather in the Hylebos, Portland was sunny and hot - a nice change. Perhaps it was too hot, though, as I watched a Portland coach absolutely melt down and get thrown from a game, cussing and yelling as he walked off the field. Not ready for the role of a role model, fer sure.

Meanwhile, well-meaning economists attempt to quantify the price of Puget Sound. The estimate of the services that the P.S. ecosystem provides - water filtration, flood storage, yummy fish, etc. - tags the value at $7 to $62 billion a year. (Doesn't that seem like a wide range?)

While I think these are valuable efforts that help people and policy makers understand what's at stake with Puget Sound recovery, estimating ecosystem services inherently undervalues the environment. First, you can't put a value on the dependence of life on the environment. It's like putting a value on your heart. Let's say it provides blood pumping and oxygenation (and for the sake of it, let's say romantic feelings) services of $100,000 per year. Regardless of what number you come up with, the organs of life are always worth more.

The other thing that economics can't capture (and perhaps this is why it's called the dismal science) is the joy and inspiration that nature gives us. Call it biophilia or whatever you want, but people have a fundamental need for natural beauty; sunsets over Puget Sound, the smell of salt water, the knowledge that the wonderful inland sea in our backyard is home to salmon, orca and countless other wild species.

You can't put a price on that.