Before any redwoods had been cloned or genetically improved, one could understand clearly what the fight against such tinkering was about. It was about the idea that a redwood was somehow sacred, that its fundamental identity should remain beyond our control. A sad and elegant point. McKibben, however, seems to have forgotten about art. Art, the ultimate man-made product, is measured precisely by its ability to evoke reverence and affection.
Art is form of anti-entropy.
Given the right circumstances a genetically engineered rabbit or a 1969 Mercury Cougar can become a work of art. 27 Robert Smithson's interest in the second law of thermodynamics completely dominated his life and work. Smithson was particularly attracted to the inevitability of heat death. In a rather roundabout way, many of the artists have provided a visible analog for the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which extrapolates the range of entropy by telling us energy is more easily lost than obtained, and that in the ultimate future the whole universe will burn out and be transformed into an all-encompassing sameness. The 'blackout' that covered the Northeastern states recently, may be seen as a preview of such a future.