Depends on your limited definition of advance. Chilling in a Matrix-esque wasteland with my fancy-futuristic-gadget isn't my idea of advanced-level-humanity.
May help with technological advancement, but not social or ethical advancement.
It’s been known to happen that environmental regulations turn out to be ill-considered, counterproductive, entirely corrupt instances of regulatory capture by politically dominant industries, or simply poor cost-benefit tradeoffs. Gigantic pickups are a consequence of poorly considered environmental regulations in the United States, for instance.
True, at their core though, those aren't environmental at their heart but rather something else green-washed, be it corruption, subsidisation or something else.
