Let's Keep Losing!

Fundamentalist evangelical environmentalist Bill McKibben's pessimism about modern humanity is fully displayed in the opening line of his reflections, in today's Washington Post, on the past 40 years of Earth Days: "Forty years in, we're losing."

Losing?  Forget facts such as that agricultural yields and proven reserves of petroleum are today at all-time highs.  Instead, focus on one of the best single indicators of the state of the environment: life-expectancy.

Life-expectancy across the...