Director Adam McKay isn't just all talk when it comes to taking action on climate change, he's putting his money where his mouth is..
This time, instead of creating another film like Don't Look Up, in which humanity was faced with an existential crisis no one seemed to care about, McKay announced that he will make a $4 million donation to the Climate Emergency Fund. The organization provides resources to activists who are fighting to reverse the effects of climate change, as they often receive little to no aid from larger entities.
"We, as a non-endowed fund, we act as an intermediary," Margaret Klein Salamon, the executive director at the Climate Emergency Fund, told Cheddar News. "We have identified a critical gap in the philanthropic ecosystem, which is that these activists get precious little, I mean virtually no institutional support."
Since getting off the ground in 2019, the Climate Emergency Fund has provided financial resources to 91 organizations, trained over 22,000 climate activists, and has garnered donations from more than 4,000 small individual donors. This year alone, more than $4 million has been dispersed among 39 organizations. For donors, the Climate Emergency Fund provides a safe, legal and tax-deductible way to donate to the cause.
Organizations use the funds they receive in a number of ways aimed at easing climate change. Salamon noted that some of those efforts include recruiting new climate activists, hiring in leadership positions, and expanding press coverage and visibility.
"We target new groups that are popping up all the time that are ultra-ambitious and utilize these disruptive tactics. That's our bullseye," Salamon said.
While many of these tactics carried out by climate activists are seen as extreme to some, Salamon noted that the dire state of the world as a result of climate change warrants them.
"I believe, as a clinical psychologist, who views our key problems, key barriers and collective denial, the mass delusion of normalcy, and what we need to do is shift into emergency mode. We have no chance against the climate emergency in 'normal mode,'" she told Cheddar News.
