Elites don't feel the effect of Environmental collapse until much later than Commoners...

"The study starts by reducing human civilization into four easy-to-toggle factors: Elites, Commoners, nature and wealth. The paper explains that this was done because “ecological strain” and “economic stratification” are the only two things that consistently plague collapsing societies.

Each factor was then assigned a complex mathematical equation and gathered together in what researchers called the HANDY (Human And Nature Dynamical) model."

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/03/18/the-utter-collapse-of-human-civilization-will-be-difficult-to-avoid-nasa-funded-study-says/

Great read. The statement that rich folks won't feel the effects of environmental collapse before commoners seems a little dicey though.