She didn't want to make it difficult for children to kill themselves. This is something bureaucrats can manage. Our situation is the same. Personally, I am not in love with the environment. But I do love the world.
People seem to have in common an intuitive understanding of what saving the world means.
The fable I began this talk with has a second point. The officials of my fable were merely stupid. Our leaders aren't stupid, they're just acting in accordance with the fundamental mythology of our culture, which represents humans as intrinsically and hopelessly destructive. The environment doesn't have to be protected from shellfish or owls or rattlesnakes or elm trees. With these words, I've redefined our task.