It feels like it's about direct / indirect issues. If to buy a gas powered car I had to go out and shoot somebody, I doubt we'd have nearly as many cars around.
Air pollution kills 7 million people a year[0]. That's not including other forms of pollution.
I also feel nobody is arguing to cancel everything immediately. They're arguing to stop building new coal power plants when there are alternatives. They're arguing for increased taxes on companies that produce pollution so that they have motivation to reduce their external effects. Etc.