[jmherbener]

Critiques like these ignore the human element. They view resources from the perspective of our given technological knowledge about their use. (Remember the Peak Oil scare from a few years ago, now forgotten in the shale oil boom.) But humans are creative, they learn. As so, we develop better resource using technology over time.

Take a look at the work of George Reisman on this issue:

http://mises.org/daily/661

http://mises.org/daily/1927/The-Toxicity-of-Environmentalism

http://mises.org/media/1508/Environmental-and-Resource-Economics

http://mises.org/media/1028/Resource-Economics-and-Environmentalism