This planet has lasted for millions, possibly billions of years before we appeared and it will last longer than we will. We might damage the atmosphere and the land but that will only lead to our self-destruction, it will take more than that to destroy this planet.

The problem, or perhaps the solution to the problem, is that we'll run out of fossil fuels within the next 50 years, perhaps faster at the rate we're growing as a species, so there will be a point where we can physically no longer pump all this stuff into the air and will have no choice but to find alternate sources of fuel and power.