I think it's all muddled together. The capitalist economy, individuals emotional attachment to material things, having no sense of moral obligation towards the environment unless it's self-centered (e.g. I like parks to go on walks, to take pictures there, therefore I like parks). We will never be able to convince the majority that we're destroying our planet's ecosystems in a futile quest for materialism, a quest that we were most of us conditioned to believe in from early childhood.

"No, we need those mines for our economy so that we don't become a poorer nation!" All the while, we destroy what, I believe, is the most precious thing in this part of the world: ecosystems that have grown, evolved and survived for millennia. But because that has no value for the common person, who cares?

I will admit that I understand in part why some would want our economy to go at full speed extracting more resources, because they've been promised that it would bring jobs, security and material comforts. IMHO, that is just a naive mindset as we see the global economy being more and more centralized in the hands of a few owners. But who cares when you can buy a 40'' screen for 500$ to watch Netflix all night, right?

Not every country in the world can afford to ditch coal just because you demand that they stop using it this very moment.

We got that sweet sweet cruelty-free, slavery-free, all organic, beautiful Canadian coal. Nationalize it and sell it to the people in need.