He didn't say that the physical things were worthless, but the repeated argument of the great importance of the mystical makes me feel it is implied. I have argued about it as much as I care to and probably more than a lot of people would like, and don't want to repeat the same thing with you. You say you aren't mystical, but that people just are and don't need scientific evaluation, it comes to the same thing, a refusal to accept scientific direction on certain subjects. I have to repeat, ecology is a science. If you want ecological economics, then you have to accept science, and that includes observations about people, and nothing held off the table.
Ecology is a science concerned with relationships, and it uses a lot of energy measure.