I don't think ad hominem is the phrase you want here. I think what you mean is, the more important question is whether we can continue to consume resources at the rate we do. And my reply to that is that creating more wealth doesn't necessarily imply consuming more resources. For example, new versions of machines often consume less power, not more.
To further your point, it doesn't even necessarily imply consuming resources at all: a person using his wrench to fix a car is creating wealth without using any resources.
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I don't think ad hominem is the phrase you want here. I think what you mean is, the more important question is whether we can continue to consume resources at the rate we do. And my reply to that is that creating more wealth doesn't necessarily imply consuming more resources. For example, new versions of machines often consume less power, not more.
To further your point, it doesn't even necessarily imply consuming resources at all: a person using his wrench to fix a car is creating wealth without using any resources.