Trees are a renewable resource, however. And clean energy is the exception, not the rule, at least for now.

I think that physical copies of books are fine in the future, so long as trees are farmed in a responsible way.

Good point on recycling however, there is a lot of debate as to what substances are actually more efficient to recycle than to mine from the earth the first time.

The environment, because it affects a slew of living creatures, and not just people. Since our actions are having an impact on every other living system in nature, we ought to fix that first, and focus on the economy second.

Furthermore, people only want to fix the economy because it's a problem that is here and now. The environment, on the other hand, is a problem that can be handed down and made the problem of our children and our children's children. We cannot keep up this intergenerational tyranny any longer.

Have you never killed a spider? Cockroach? Mosquito? If so, was it for a selfish human need?

I don't know that there's anything wrong with killing other animals for our own needs, though it is wrong to kill for sport. The way an animal is killed and the freedom it was given in life is what matters.

I would agree that we are overpaying some people based on their value contributions, but I disagree on who those people are. Executives, for instance, make far more money than they are worth, and far more than they know what to do with. If less money went to those who arguably don't deserve it, then perhaps we could afford to pay low skill laborers what they are worth in terms of value and hard work.

"Low skill jobs don't add much value and should be paid as such. Minimum wage is basically just a twisted form of welfare. "

Though these jobs might not require much skill, they are still quite valuable. What would happen if we suddenly had no gas station attendants? No garbagemen? No grocery clerks?

And generally people in this type of job work very hard. They are not easy jobs, regardless of the fact that they require no education or special qualifications.

Well said. In 1965, the average CEO made about 24 times the average worker at his/her company. By 2007, that ratio had grown to about 275 times the average worker's pay.

Money corrupts.

The problem is that most people are stupid. They will vote on and comment on the most entertaining and attention-grabbing information, and not necessarily the information that matters most.

Besides, nothing beats going outside with a good book and enjoying two of life's greatest pleasures (3 if you bring sweet tea).

Physical books rock hard. What will happen when we lose all technology and head into another Dark Ages? Physical books will pull us out of it!

Keep buying real books! (But buy them in cash!!!)

Having read the entire description of the question, I just noted that physical books were described as "bad for the environment". It's interesting, because I just heard a segment on NPR not too long ago about something similar. They looked into the environmental effects of actual newspapers vs. reading online, and found that because so much energy was used to power the servers supplying the news (let alone the power used to receive it) getting an actual newspaper was actually better for the environment. Especially since they can be recycled. Now, books are a different matter, but I enjoy keeping them forever and going back to re-read, sometimes loaning them out, etc. So it's not as though they are a waste of trees as a one-time use thing.