I feel like two big points are being overlooked:
For humanity to acknowledge that using fossil carbon as an energy source is destructive to our habitat is tantamount to making all the buried carbon (which is currently counted as a big asset of very wealthy entities) worthless. Should we be surprised that those wealthy entities are fighting this change, using techniques that include turning the mouth-breathing masses upon us? If we want them to let those assets go, we’ll have to pay for them, dearly.
Second, it isn’t really “billionaires”. It’s capital. Massive transnational corporations are owned partly by very rich people and partly by large groups of the less-wealthy. I own some myself, though the mutual funds in my 401K, though no senators will take my calls. It’s those chunks of capital, which are now legally people (my friends), that are wielding that awesome destructive power.
