Saleem H. Ali, a ‘pro-consumption environmentalist’ at the University of Vermont “argues that sometimes a nation has to extract a nonrenewable resource like oil, or tricky-to-recycle metals and gems, in order to leapfrog from dire poverty to a more diversified economy.” “Money from oil wealth can be used to invest in other sectors. And that in turn can yield sustainable development,” Ali says. Awhile back I sketched very briefly a view of the theological purpose of fossil fuels. On this...