[Happy Monkey]

All of those wrong predictions seemed to share at least one of two features. Either

a) We've found more of the nonrenewable resource, or
b) The rate of increase has gone down recently.

Both of these share one aspect - they put off the danger until later. There isn't an infinite amount of oil, or enough room for infinite people. Efforts in limiting oil use or population growth may be early, but it is not wasted.

In addition, recent improvements in the rates are often due to efforts on our part, such as for endangered species, environmental pollution, and (as mentioned) population growth. If current efforts are abandoned because old predictions did not pan out, then the problems could easily rise back to the rates from the time of the prediction.