Climate change.
No dude everything is fine and there's nothing we can do about it that's economically feasible anyway so what's the point. We're just in the middle of a hot cycle and these things happen naturally. Burn baby burn.
What if climate change wasn't real, and we made the Earth a better place for no reason?
The only Earth that's a better place is the one that results in more money in my pocket. Duh.
Don't be silly. There's always a reason for everything. So far, there isn't a reason to make Earth better - it's more profitable to continue as it is.
This is the only answer. End of discussion. My personal pet conspiracy is that every other major issue in politics is a smoke screen for the wealthy and politically powerful to consolidate power in preparation for the unavoidable shift in economics that will take place when we're so fucked we can't feed ourselves. It's less a pet theory than a plot for a book I have no idea how to write but it would be a damn good book if I was talented and motivated enough to write it.
That's a pretty wide scope for a book. I'd write a book about something else. Like a story about a hacker that gets caught up stealing information from megacorporations. Then in the background of the story you see the wealthy consolidating power and climate change happening. That'd be easier than writing a straight up story about wealthy consolidating power.