As long as the majority of the population has a death-grip on the past, it is going to be hard to get people to readily accept conservation.

Conservation doesn't sound like much fun to most people. They have never really been exposed to the possible alternative lifestyles that don't place industrial consumerism as the core pursuit. It is going to be hard for Westerners in partiular to accept it and there will be much social and economic disruption and chaos to go through to get to whatever it is on the other side. It is the most intersting times indeed.