“And that’s what the “green movement” is all about - reducing everyone else’s lifestyle so that they elites’ lifestyle appears to be that much more above everyone else.”
That’s not how I interpret the motives of the elite. I think they want the little people to live simple, clean, green lifestyles, so that the elite’s planet isn’t dirtied up. Elites don’t concern themselves with little people, so they are unconcerned about comparisons of lifestyle.
But to have all those dirty little people dirtying up their planet will never do.
This was my position for a while, until I read what CS Lewis had to say about the sin of Pride. The elites' lifestyle isn't going to change if the rest of us continue our lifestyle, and most of them know it. They just want there to be a huge difference, because that fuels their pride.