Alternatively think of the low energy output of solar and wind power. In order to get more energy, you have to use more land and real estate. Are we supposed to chop down the entire rainforest and destroy poor people neighborhoods to get more energy.
No, people are not chopping down the rainforest for solar panels and integrating wind turbines into a forest is absolutely trivial with minimal loss of land. [0]
The primary reason why rain forests are being destroyed is by what I personally call "disposable agriculture". Poor farmers set a part of the rainforest on fire. The resulting ashes drop down on the land and the farmer starts tilling the soil. The ashes act as a natural fertilizer. The farmer then plants his monoculture field and exports the harvest. The top soil in the rainforest is not very deep. Without trees it is prone to being blown or washed away. Additionally exporting the harvest means that organic matter is being taken away from the location which further depletes the topsoil. After 3 years the land is worthless and the farmer has to move onto the next location. Rinse and repeat. A single farmer can easily destroy hundreds of acres of rainforest.
Depletion of nutrients is not exclusive to the rainforest though. Regular farmland also suffers from this which is why farmers have to use artificial fertilizer. You can farm in the rainforest even if you can't afford fertilizer. This is why it is being destroyed.
[0] https://static2.bigstockphoto.com/5/1/3/large1500/315311371....
It ignores both the cost and environmental damage of each energy source.
If we discover a way to extract energy from little kittens more efficiently than from oil, according to you we should start building kitten farms for fuel. This is absurd :)