We can't incentivize people to change their behavior because no one is going to deliberately lower their quality of life.

What politician is going to win on a platform of...

Let's make air travel so expensive that normal people can no longer regularly fly!

Vote for me I'm going to double your electricity bill!

You know that big SUV you love that is entirely impractical but you just like it because of how big it is... If you vote for me I'll make gas $7 a gallon so that you can't afford to have a giant SUV anymore.

You know how you like to eat your Taco Bell nachos in your car with a plastic spork... If you vote for me I'll replace the plastic spork with a cornstarch spork that starts to melt when you use it.

The only thing that is going to save us is technology. Like air travel being fueled by biofuels, electricity costs kept somewhat normal by building new nuclear generation, giant SUVs being powered by batteries charged by nuclear/renewable energy, actually recycling the plastic spork.