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Jun 27, 2023 - Energy & Environment

Climate Emergency Fund adds noteworthy scientist to its ranks

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Illustration of a hand holding a bullhorn with an earth in the center

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

The Climate Emergency Fund (CEF), which finances disruptive nonviolent climate activism in the U.S. and abroad, is bringing climate scientist Rose Abramoff onto its board, the group tells Axios.

Why it matters: Abramoff lost her job at Oak Ridge Laboratory early this year, after she took part in a protest against fossil fuel sponsorship of the 2022 American Geophysical Union's fall meeting.

  • Bringing a climate scientist onto the CEF board, which is stacked with well-known filmmakers like Rory Kennedy and Adam McKay, highlights the evolution of some climate scientists toward activism.

The big picture: The CEF has been a quiet but early funding source behind the nascent group Climate Defiance, which gained attention when it staged a protest outside the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

  • Climate scientists are no strangers to activism, with some of the pioneering researchers like longtime NASA's James Hansen taking part in direct actions for years.
  • However, most scientists tend to stick to research and communicate it so the public and policymakers can make informed decisions on this issue.
  • Given the lack of progress in bending the emissions curve downward, along with the severity of climate impacts so far, Abramoff and others think such an approach is futile.

The backstory: CEF was founded in 2019, and has since doled out $9 million in grants to 112 organizations. It has served as a source of seed funding for grassroots activists just getting off the ground who don't yet satisfy requirements for funding from large philanthropies.

  • Extinction Rebellion, which gained notoriety and controversy for its demonstrations in the U.K., is a grantee.
  • Other grantees include Third Act, which is focused on people over the age of 60 and involves prominent journalist and advocate Bill McKibben, and Scientist Rebellion, which Abramoff has been involved with, as well as End Fossil Occupy.

What they're saying: "I had this sort of naive thought that ... if we communicate the science of climate change, and the severity and the urgency of climate change, the appropriate institutions will take action," Abramoff told Axios in an interview.

  • "And of course, after watching that not happen for decades, I decided to change my tactics," Abramoff said.
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