Because fossil fuels are finite and running out. 8 billion people get through a vast amount of oil every day. How much longer do you think it will last? Not long. Anyone young today will live to see a very different world, then we'll see what real 'austerity' looks like. A world with no more growth (except probably population). Things will fall apart very quickly.
Fascinating.
So you think global warming is just a hoax to cover for the previous doomsday scenario - peak oil - which was alleviated by the development of fracking and shale reserves. Your response to this is to desire to use up as much oil as you can get your hands on, because you think it is a fixed pie that others are trying to take as well. And you believe that your consumption of this oil is beneficial for your quality of life.
There are several things unexamined there. One is that many of the alternatives being suggested
improve quality of life. Solar and wind power production is cheaper than fossil fuel. You can produce it for yourself cheaply, and sever your reliance on others (which is something conspiracy-minded individuals often prefer), while saving money. Solar is so cheap, it is cheaper than nuclear fusion could even possibly be once we manage to learn how to do it and reduce its cost due to economies of scale. Nuclear fusion doesn't even exist and we can't see a way to make it as cheap as solar is today. Solar is the cheapest source of energy humanity has seen. Maybe that's less the case in the UK, I know it's cloudy there a lot.
Electric cars are fast, comfortable, easy to drive, and reliable. They're not super cheap, but rebates are designed precisely to assist non-"elite" folks like yourself afford them. And when combined with solar on your roof, electric cars are insanely economical. Don't get rid of your gas guzzler for long trips of course, but for short duty, it's cheaper, and saves you from spending your life at the pump. Note that some of this requires some additional "means" that "elites" are likely to have. A garage for multiple cars, spending money for new vehicles, a house with a roof, and spending money for solar panels. But this should indicate to you that it is "elites" who are actually moving in this direction - to use less oil. And who would that benefit? People who don't have the money to do so, by reducing demand for oil and keeping the price lower.
I'm not sure exactly where you thinking you're being pressured to cut back on your lifestyle other than electric cars and maybe solar and wind power in your country. But if the world is running out of oil, why would you not be excited to see alternatives start to get developed today? Electric cars are still somewhat in their infancy, and battery power is revolutionizing a whole host of additional uses, and making my garage a nicer place. I have battery powered impact wrenches and vacuum cleaners coming from this technology - things that are very handy on a daily basis. Improved solar panel design, electric car design, even fuel efficiency in flights and trains all enable INCREASED standard of living in a post-oil world. If that's truly what you're concerned about, you should recognize that these things are necessary solutions to that problem.
Your conspiracy theory still doesn't pass the sniff test. It aligns the thing you find nefarious too well with the solution to the problem you assume. That's not a good conspiracy. A good conspiracy is a much tighter web of victimhood that's harder to poke holes in. Those kinds of conspiracy theories exist, and can still be very wrong, but this particular one is not impressive.
The amazing thing about all of this is that when your car burns oil, nastiness comes out of the tail pipe. You can literally see the smog - in big cities, it's a fine black snowfall that sits on all of your outdoor furniture. It hangs like a brown cloud over the city, and it's so painfully obvious that it comes from emissions, like car and truck emissions, that it's unbelievable that your line of thinking is the oil is something you want to burn into your atmosphere as fast as you can in spite of alternatives. If you don't like wearing masks, and many conspiracy-minded people don't, consider the masks people have had to wear in Beijing due to pollution. And then consider that the nefarious forces you think are at work would alleviate this kind of health problem posed directly at yourself.
