Yeah? What was the writer's excuse?
In the comic, writing is credited to "Golden Press Staff." Not exactly Harlan Ellison.
Speaking of weird environmental SF, remember "Silent Running," where all the plant life on Earth was supposedly obliterated except for remnants on a few domes on a spaceship? Whatever else was good about the movie, I couldn't swallow that dead whale of a premise. Probably also written by the Golden Press Staff.