It's not objectively bad, but so unpopular that it would require tyranny to implement. Living fully cleanly and like a monk makes a few people very happy with a sense of purpose, but it gets in the way of everyone else's priorities, which is to survive day-to-day.

Living without AC in a warm summer is one example. It feels like a first world inconvenience to the Green types, that we should all learn to accept. Good luck with democratically convincing everyone else - you'd need authoritarian for a true success in keeping everyone "living with less."