The reason I care about protecting the environment is not because I love trees, or have a penchant for big furry animals.  The reason I care so much is because I believe protecting the environment is what’s best for human beings.

It seems like the anti-environmental crowd often tends to label those who want to protect the environment as overly extreme.  Most environmentalists aren’t tree-huggers, SUV vandalizers, or animal rights activists.  The reason I, and many other environmentalists, advocate things like responsible fishery management is not because I think fish are cute or have equal rights as humans; it’s because I like to eat fish and don’t want to see their population destroyed.

There are certainly environmentalists out there who are extreme.  Some environmentalists do push for broad animal rights.  Some believe we should protect the Earth for the Earth’s sake, rather than humans.  But I am certain this is a miniscule minority view.

Protecting the environment makes sense.  We rely on the Earth for our food, fuel, air, water, and more.  If we ignore the fact that there are limits to our consumption and activities, it will hurt us in the end.