Ecology or economics? I am writing in regard to a letter printed in the October 24 Chimes which was responding to Elizabeth Katt’s “Help Save Alaska’s Coast” (October 17, Chimes, Opinions). In the letter Kirk Heynen attempted to challenge the facts from Ms. Katt’s article with incomplete and unverifiable information which I would consider merely opinions. The truth is that the facts which Ms. Katt used to write her article are indeed facts and have been confirmed by several journal articles and the Natural Resource Defense Council in Washington, D.C. However, my primary contention with Mr. Heynen is not his dispute with the facts, but with the attitude presented in the letter. The debate between the environment and the economy has a long history. As long as there are resources to exploit, there will be proponents on both sides of the issue. However, as Christians we are called to ask more fundamental questions about the resources that God has given us. The questions go much deeper than ecology and economics. When God created the earth, He did provide certain gifts which were intended for our use. Yet environmentalists continually find themselves trying to place a functional value on nature in order to preserve it. What we find ourselves doing is placing value on elements of Creation based on human perspective. If we find it useful, then it is worth our time tot preserve it. The argument in Mr. Heynen’s letter is classic, if it has no use-value, then it essentially has no value. In Mr. Heynen’s opinion, the Alaskan coastline is a “barren” landscape, with “no trees, no rocky cliffs, no mountains, no alpine lakes, no nothing.” No nothing? I hardly think God created the tundra with the idea it would have “no nothing.” As Christians we are called to care and tend for God’s Creation, it is not our own and we do not have the right to make such subjective judgements. Creation, all of Creation, has an intrinsic value because God created it. It is His and we are accountable for the state that it is in. The responsibility of the environment is a serious one for the Christian community and I would encourage those in the opinion of Mr. Heynen to consider this when they place value on God’s Creation. --Sara Young, Class of ‘98

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