The Bible is both black and white on the issue. The command to "subdue" the earth can be taken as a license to use everything in it to our own advantage and ignore the consequences. On the other hand, the command to be good stewards requires us to take good care of what we have been allowed to use.
It's funny that literalists don't try to reconcile that contradiction.
In my opinion, the planet itself is not of value. The life on the planet is what we are responsible to protect and preserve to the best of our ability.
I just got a mental image of Phat sawing off the tree branch that he's sitting on.