The oligarchs have dropped any pretense that they consider the Earth and its peoples to be anything more than resources with which to fund their privilege.

Some might argue that that's been the case for years/decades/millennia/ever, but it really hasn't. The significant change hasn't been in their motivations, which granted are essentially the same as they've always been, but in the abandonment of even a meaningful attempt at supposed justification or public support. It's not that they believe they don't have to represent our interests, because yes, they've long believed that. It's that they believe that they don't even have to pretend to represent our interests. And what that says is that they not only don't care about the well-being of the planet or the other people with whom they share it, but they don't care if we know that. And what that in turn says is that they aren't afraid of us.

That's a thing that's new to the US, but the world has seen it before. And it never ends well for the oligarchs.