When I made my first quilt 30+ years ago, fabric was around $5/yard. Yes, fabric prices have gone up, but it has been a gradual thing, not a sudden jump. People who are smokers pay well over $5/pack, and I can remember when they cost 25 cents/pack. In 1970, gas was 33 cents/gallon, and look where it is now.
The point of my ramblings is, if you really want it, you'll get it no matter what it costs. If you are on a fixed budget, you can still get fabric by going to thrift stores/auctions, estate sales, yard sales, etc/ or you can ask family members to gift you with fabrics or notions for birthdays or holidays, or, only buy the fabric when you have a coupon or really good sale. You can also make scrappy quilts out of leftovers from other projects, so you can get "double duty" out of your fabric. Or, you can plan ahead for your project and buy items in stages - fabric on one trip to the store, then batting on another trip, then backing, binding, thread, etc
If you figure a quilt would last for only just 1 year, the cost of that quilt is about 38 cents/day. Most quilts are around for many years. The cost of the materials may seem expensive when you pay for it all at once, but the return on the investment is pretty darned worth it.

I used to feel a little guilty about my fabric purchases, but my gut told me 2 things:
1-retirement is not going to buy much fabric
2-fabric prices are not going to come down, but eventually go up!
So glad I have more than an adequate stash and don't even look at the fabrics when I go in a store. I can shop in my own sewing room :D

Wal mart has a collection that I loved and it was $4.97, well no one else like it so they reduced it to $2.00 a yard and I had a field day. But the bad thing about the fabric dept most of the time no one is in there working and you have to go find someone to page a worker and then wait for the worker to come I can cut the fabric but can't work the scanner. Maybe I need to learn.

I never buy fabric from a LQS or online unless it is on sale. I buy my thread and ALL of my solids from Connecting Threads. I use my stash for the focus fabric and use muslin for the quilt backs. I quilt for the enjoyment and it is pretty darned hard to find enjoyment in $12 per yard fabric.

I thank my lucky stars that I have much cheaper local options. LQS stores average the same $12-13/yd, but we have Mill End Fabrics, though not always current, I can get top quality cottons for $3.60-$5.80/yd and 108" backer fabric for $7/yd. Online from Connecting Threads and Thousands of Bolts helps too.

Agreed. Fabric is horribly expensive here and like you most of mine comes from the US though I do get from a couple of places in the UK during sales.

The prices keep going up because the cost of the raw material, cotton, keeps going up.

Is there an environmentally safe way of making fabric as opposed to the " horrific" way it is made today?

Yes, the good old days of reasonably priced fabric are gone. You have to be selective in thread count, designer, and
which stores are consistently offering "fair" priced fabric. Then again, once in a while you will stumble on exceptional
cotton pieces at your Goodwill, Salvation Army, or other re-sale shops. They sometimes get fabric from elderly
ladies who no longer sew.

This is true, we see it here at Ladyfingers. Our regular price for 100% high quality fabrics are around $8-$9/yard.
Batiks and Flannel, we try to keep it around $10-11/yard