Because the requirements of human life are not the standard by which environmentalists make their judgments. Environmentalists often declare their philosophy openly. We are not interested in the utility of a particular species, of free-flowing river, or ecosystem to mankind. The environmentalist goal, in other words, is to protect nature, not for man, but from man. But this means that man must suffer so that nature remains pristine.
Human beings survive by reshaping nature to fulfill their needs.
Earth Day is an appropriate occasion for challenging the environmentalists' philosophy.