Indeed, the grim fate of Semmelweis is extreme. But think, for example, of Ken Saro-Wiwa, who fought Big Oil and was executed.

As for paper - I suspect that written letter communication leaves a much smaller footprint than sending emails and printing on demand. However, I have no evidence of this yet.

But https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/ has something about the rebound effect exceeding the initial savings.