Because the economic consequences of fossil fuel regulation could be massively deadly or at least disruptive as well, that is why people and companies spend millions of dollars lying about it.
The balance of power of nations and corporations would be totally upended.
We could have gotten here sooner if we had invested more heavily, sooner in these technologies. As it is we had a few forward thinking states like Germany to thank for where we are, with spot prices of wind and most solar being cheaper than coal, and often cheaper than natural gas.
This totally upends the few existing players that were once thought to have unassailable power. But now that companies that are heavily invested in natural gas are treating coal as their competitor and enemy in the political landscape, things are changing. Those natural gas heavy fossil fuel companies are actually asking for a carbon tax!
As solar and wind become bigger economic forces, we will likely start to see more consolidation and see fewer player with stronger political force to compete with natural gas. The nuclear industry has no power here, they let fossil fuel driven companies control their fate, and they have no industrial savvy to build an industry, and instead spend all their time tilting at windmills of weak political forces, and unable to build and deliver reactors when they do have eager customers.
It will be super interesting to see what happens with Perry’s coal NOPR that’s being evaluated by FERC right now. Has FERC been stacked with enough coal partisans, or will the rest of the energy industry win out?
[0] https://www.thenational.ae/business/energy/world-s-cheapest-...
And as you said, stopping the fossil fuel use worldwide would upend our entire modern civilization, result in massive food shortages and an economic crisis, and likely significant conflicts as well. Damned if we do, damned if we don't.
Most of these "skeptics" (accepting a very loose meaning of the word) are in the US, and given the US's massive geographical resources, of desert, planes and coastline, and its expertise in technology development, I can't see why it as a nation would object, in terms of a zero sum transfer of power between nations. The really dramatic shift would be away from the Middle East, in particular Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran, and I struggle to see why the US should do anything except cheer that.