> But precisely because no particular entity owns the atmosphere, or (in most cases) the water... This is an emergent property of the systems of power we allow

> But precisely because no particular entity owns the atmosphere, or (in most cases) the water... This is an emergent property of the systems of power we allow to prevail, where sufficiently dilutive responsibility and/or authority over decisions almost always falls under our threshold to effectively regulate, and shows the power of corruptive processes. It still boggles my mind to this day that we knew a long time ago that burning coal dumped methylmercury into our waters and is incorporated into aquatic life that we harvest for food. And yet we haplessly continue even after seafood has been so globally contaminated we went from a baseline experience our ancestors enjoyed of "eat all the seafood you care to eat in your diet", to "watch your methylmercury intake when you eat seafood". If you were able to tell your great-great-great-grandparents that we've contaminated our seafood to the point we cannot eat certain fish more than X times a year, and there is no part of the world left unaffected, they'd be horrified or think you're a fabulist.