He is absolutely right. Life could not re-evolve on a totally dead Earth. Nor could it evolve the first time on a totally dead Earth for exactly the same reason. The fossil record is filled with dinosaurs and other critters that were once alive but are now extinct. Every year a few more species go extinct, and no entirely new species are evolving to take their places.
Some species are evolving new varieties which have minor differences from their parents, it s true.
We just planted some rose bushes that have been bred to produce pink and yellow blooms. It is just variation in an existing species. No entirely new critters are evolving to fill the ecological niches left by extinct species. That s why environmentalists are so alarmed. If it really were true that environmental pressure stimulates evolution of new, superior life forms, then there would be nothing to worry about.