If you make something a matter of identity, facts don’t matter much any more - it’s about “us” versus “them”.

If I was someone with a vested interest in sabotaging the process (of transitioning off fossil fuels), I would try to make their consumption part of someone’s identity. It seems to follow that to move ahead smoother, the matter has to be dis-associated from identity somehow. I’m not competent in psychology, so I cannot guess how.