With higher net worths come luxury goods. As well as luxury beliefs. Like the belief buying a Tesla is not more harmful for the environment than continuing to drive the gas guzzler and just not getting a new car till you truly truly need it. Those friends you admire? They're not worth admiring. They're actively hurting the cause they claim to support by doing that. Which means they're either well meaning but stupid or they didn't really do it for the reason they professed to you. They did it so they COULD profess that reason to you. Either way not the best role model.

Here's what I'll say. If you care deeply about environmental issues but you aren't even informed enough to say how much carbon we put into the atmosphere per year, how much was there already and naturally so you know how big the difference is - and I mean the actual numbers and percentages here, the true pros and cons of "green tech" that often isn't all that green unless you were in the market anyway... and really just enough to win a debate with someone who doesn't buy it. Well, if you aren't that far along you'd make a bigger impact on the world reading a book than buying solar panels and hoping it pays for itself over the course of 12 years in the theoretical world where it doesn't break.

I think people who talk so constantly like environmentalism and try to tie it to unrelated topics are about as valuable as that girl who wont shut up about crossfit. Which is to say not.