Gerdanken #1: The last man argument and the intrinsic value of nature

Imagine...

(1) You are the very last man left on Earth, and you will die in 1 min. After you die, the human race will be extinct; only wildlife will be left.

(2) A system of nuclear explosives, able to blow the whole Earth (with all its wildlife) up, has been set up.

(3) If you press the button and activate those explosives, it would blow the Earth up, but only after you die. Because there would be no more humans left on Earth, no humans would be killed, rather, only the Earth's nature and wildlife would be blown up forever.

Stop and think. Will you press the button? You would not kill any humans but only plants and animals. Does it even matter to you after you die? So would you press the button?

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Most people would not. A "no" answer lends credence to the intrinsic value of nature. It is an acknowledgement that nature and its wildlife does not only have a purely utilitarian value, but rather, also an intrinsic one i.e. nature does not exist purely to serve humans.

This has far-reaching implications on environmentalism and human responsibilities. Chew on it.