Because, yanno, after our generation is gone and our children are gone, that's it, right? No more humans? You seem like you're trying to wax philosophical, so stop it.  We have a responsibility to try and fix what WE broke, what our parents and grandparents broke.  Not for us. Not even for our children, but for their children and their children after that.  No one said anything about "Stopping wheels", but we can certainly take better care of the planet we have, and we aren't currently doing that.