[api]

"This is very much possible while also increasing quality of life."

I don't disagree. It's in part a framing issue. For decades the message has been "you should feel guilty for wanting things, and to save the world everyone needs to de-industrialize and return to the lifestyle of a medieval peasant." (I'm exaggerating just a little bit, but not much.)

The mainstream response has been similar to how people respond to other moral shaming campaigns: pretend to play along and engage in a lot of token signaling gestures (like banning plastic straws or recycled disposable cups) but otherwise ignore it. Actual behavior does not change, but you get this gloss of fake ineffective feel-good junk.

The developing world's response has been a bit more pointed: "fuck you, we're poor." They're not going to listen to a bunch of rich westerners tell them they need to stay poor to save the planet.