wendell for wednesday

From a letter in support of the Catholic Worker Movement’s campaign against frac sand mining in Minnesota:

I will say, first, that there is never, for any reason, a justification for doing long-term or permanent damage to the ecosphere. We did not create the world, we do not own it, and we have no right to destroy any part of it.

Second, most of our politicians and their corporate employers are measuring their work by the standards of profitability and mechanical efficiency. Those standards are wrong. There is one standard that is right: the health of living creatures and the living earth.

Third, we must give our need to eat, drink, and breathe and absolute precedence over our need for mined fuels.

Wendell Berry