In case you hadn’t noticed, gas prices at the pump shot up between 40 and 60 cents a gallon which has made oil companies delighted. Why, you ask. Because this has now given the fossil fuel polluters to claim a national emergency, opening up more pristine lands here in the U.S. for drilling.
On Wednesday the Interior Department opened up more than 1.3 million acres in the Arctic to drilling leases, including areas critical to biodiversity and subsistence hunting for the Native Americans who have lived there for thousands of years.
Not to be outdone by fossil fuel companies, the Forest Service announced it would approve mining under a “streamlined” process in a critical biodiversity hotspot in Arizona known as Patagonia where water shortage is already a problem. The attack on Iran serves more than one purpose, for sure.
Prayer for the Day
With your hand you brought us out of the dust,
Giving us life with your breath, Eternal Creator;
With your heart you formed us into your likeness,
Making us sentient beings with your soul. Loving Spirit.
May we respond to the power of your love in the world
By caring for all creatures who inhabit the earth.
In the name of the One who embodies your love,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
These critical minerals are not more valuable than the water for the community that lives here and the wildlife in this global biodiversity hotspot.
Carolyn Shafer, Patagonia Area Resource Alliance.
We're very concerned about what this means to our community and whether or not we're safe in our lands and waters where they're developing [following oil rig collapse],
Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, former Nuiqsut city mayor
Hear a just cause, O Lord, attend to my cry;
Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit,
From you let my vindication come;
Let your eyes see the right.
Psalm 17: 1-2