When advocating reform, it is ethically and intellectually irresponsible to neglect this principle. Economists seldom do. Nor should writers who seek a better society. Here's a modest suggestion, offered with hope but no great expectation of widespread acceptance. Supplement the work of writers and natural scientists with, not the values, but the analytical perspective economists bring to problems.
Economists see patterns and provide their explanations.
Yet many environmental writers discount and deride their value, and not without reason. Thomas Sowell, one of the great economists from the University of Chicago, tells us the things that economists best measure are not those that matter most. Good economists never argue that the market is a magic elixir of near perfection. It is not and will never be. Markets coordinate wonderfully as they drive toward narrow efficiency, but they ignore much that is intangible and often destroy that which has no price and no owner.