I won't argue that, in some ways, humankind's massive impact on the Earth can be considered "bad." Most distinctively in the eyes of native animal populations and people who appreciate untouched natural beauty--plus a ton of other things. However, I must make the argument that there no biological reason for us to be guilty about our impact on our environment. There may be ethical, moral, and species-based reasons, but to the planet Earth itself, us humans are just another step in a large chain of happenings on the planet.
Let me tell you a story. A few billion years ago, a certain bacteria learned how to photosynthesize and accidentally caused the first mass extinction event through the rapid oxidization of the atmosphere. Those bacteria, at the time, were facing the same ecological dilemma us humans face today. Had they limited their oxygen production through international treaties and ended up curbing the great oxidization event, no oxygen-based life would have ever evolved. Oxygen was a toxic byproduct that caused a great extinction. Now it's essential to complex life.
See, us humans are 100% born of the Earth and everything we do, make, or burn is also born of the Earth. Even the most erudite chemicals found on a shampoo bottle were created through 100% biologically local processes. Humans have this egotistical way of considering themselves special when compared to other parts of the natural environment. But the truth is that we are as much a part of that environment as any other organism. And whatever we do, no matter how "destructive" it is to the environment, is within the sphere of influence of Earth.
The Earth itself doesn't care what its biosphere looks like. Mass extinction events come and go. Species die out--that's the whole foundation of evolution. While we may really dislike the way the climate is changing now, we must realize that this is a viewpoint that comes from us. We are not synonymous with the Earth's conscience. The biosphere deals with pollution by changing lemons to lemonade. While the last hundred years have seen a rapid increase in the amount of pollution and the number of extinctions, humankind is no different from the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs. It's totally natural. When we're gone, somehow, the Earth will take all that plastic waste and chemical stuff we spread all over the planet and figure out an amazing use for us. The Earth is not moral or ethical. It is functional. To the Earth itself, and its biosphere, humans are just another event. There is no good or evil when it comes to planetary biospheres. Today's pollution is tomorrow's engine of life. If we cover the oceans in plastic there will, eventually, arise a complete ecosystem based on that plastic. It will be wonderful and complex and just as legitimate as the ecosystem formed without that plastic. Sure, it won't happen on our timescale, but the human timescale is ridiculously short anyways.
Don't feel guilty to mother Earth about modern society. The only reason why we should be fighting climate change is to protect and improve the living conditions and lives of humans and the animals we love. Our struggles are not cosmic, they're utilitarian, and anyone who tries to guilt trip you for being "evil" for using fossil fuels doesn't understand the spirit of Mother Earth. There are many convincing arguments for the reduction of pollution and environmental destruction. It's just that the cosmic one isn't one of those.
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