Happy Exploit-The-Earth Day!

[DeadPoolX 9]

here's a pro earth day demonstrator. get rid of them pesky human polluters!

He'd only be pro-earth if he were wearing a ghillie suit.

[mRx 16]

Matt, this is nothing but a straw man argument...

According to environmentalism, however, man should not use nature for his needs; he should keep his hands off “the goods”; he should leave nature alone, come what may. Environmentalism is not concerned with human health and wellbeing—neither ours nor that of generations to come.

....

You find me anywhere, where environmental conservationists have said that. What a lousy presupposition.

I can see your point, Steven. However, I do believe that amidst the hysteria of environmentalism, activists have begun putting the well-being of Earth ahead of mankind. I believe that is what the OP meant. Sometimes, boiling something down to the extreme core, is the only way to properly analyze it, and make such realizations.

I don't think anyone wants to live on a filthy planet anymore than anyone desires to sleep in a filthy home, but the various means of attaining such an end, ultimately lead to different outcomes. Improperly and inefficiently using Earth's resources leads to waste; and waste is a loss, not a profit.

A relevant example of this would be Standard Oil. While competitors were dumping crude by-products into rivers, Rockefeller turned this waste into a profit; Vaseline, parrafin candles, etc.

Granted, there's is way to completely eliminate mankind's footprint on Earth's resources. However, Capitalism always leads to the most efficient utilization of resources through incentive; because otherwise it would not be profitable.

[Scott & Lai 12]

Conservation is one thing, Environmental extremism is quite another. The later would include those, for example, who oppose cutting fire breaks on the grounds that it disturbs the habitat of particular bird species. When wild fires come, though, in addition to the destruction of the homes of thousands of human beings, the habitats of the animals that the environmentalists were concerned about are also destroyed, as well as many animals perishing. It is common for these people to speak of humans as a blight on nature, or as being equivalent to a virus. I've seen such talk on VJ a number of times.