The slogan was: “When E.F. Hutton
talks, people listen.” I never met the investing guru, but I apply
the same principle to Dr. Felix Haynes. Sunday afternoon, his advice
was succinct: “You need to get to know Wendell Berry.”
Hours earlier, the retired minister
and I were in our old church—Jesup First Baptist—to honor our
mutual friend, Hubert Howard, on his 90th birthday. The original
sanctuary is now a fellowship hall, but I pointed to the spot where
Hubert always sat during services. Felix chuckled and said, “That’s
right.”
But when Felix brought up the coal-ash
hullabaloo, neither of us was laughing. If Republic Services gets
its wish for Broadhurst Environmental Landfill, our
great-great-great-grandchildren won’t be laughing, either. There
is nothing funny about the risks Coastal Georgia will face when
mile-long trains of toxic waste show up in Wayne County.
I told Felix that there is no amount
of money or debate that can change my mind about dumping coal ash in
an ultrasensitive ecosystem. That’s why he called to say that I
needed to meet Wendell Berry, a Kentucky author, poet, farmer,
teacher and highly acclaimed conservationist. When Felix was in
seminary in Louisville, he drove 38 miles to preach in Wendell’s
church—Port Royal Baptist. Any friend of Felix’s is a friend of
mine.
Before bedtime, I researched Wendell
Berry. I urge you to do the same. In the meantime, read these
quotations:
C “There are no sacred and unsacred
places; there are only sacred and desecrated places. My belief is
that the world and our life in it are conditional gifts.”
C “Whether we or our politicians know
it or not, Nature is party to all our deals and decisions, and she
has more votes, a longer memory, and a sterner sense of justice than
we do.”
C “The past is our definition. We may
strive with good reason to escape it, or to escape what is bad in it.
But we will escape it only by adding something better to it.”
C "To cherish what remains of the Earth
and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival.”
C “A corporation, essentially, is a
pile of money to which a number of persons have sold their moral
allegiance.’
C “The atmosphere, the earth, the water
and the water cycle—those things are good gifts. The ecosystems,
the ecosphere, those are good gifts. We have to regard them as gifts
because we couldn’t make them. We have to regard them as good
gifts because we couldn’t live without them.’
C “We have the world to live in on the
condition that we will take good care of it. And to take good care
of it, we have to know it. And to know it and to be willing to take
care of it, we have to love it.”
Wendell has written dozens
of books, short stories, poems and articles, but he takes only a few
words to explain why God expects us to be better stewards of His
gifts—our natural resources. I understand business. I enjoy
signing paychecks, so “profit” isn’t a dirty word.
I respect Republic’s right to
operate a profitable Broadhurst business. I have no respect for its
profit motive behind dumping toxic coal ash in Coastal Georgia. The
danger is too great to desecrate the place so many love. It’s our
duty to take care of the environment. If Republic ignores all that
I’ve said, I hope it will listen to Wendell: “Do unto those
down-stream as you would have up-stream do unto you.”
dnesmith@cninewspapers.com
