Two great-great-grandchildren of
The name of the effort comes from the idea that reducing demand for fossil fuels is only half of the “equation” when it comes to addressing global warming; the other side of the equation is cutting off the supply.
The idea behind the campaign is simple: Protest movements work.
“The industry has said that the number-one challenge to building new pipelines is local opposition,” Lambert said. “These groups have amazing results, but they are seriously under-resourced.”
The campaign will fund all aspects of blocking new development, including lawsuits, protest activities, public relations, social-media campaigns, and legal support when people are arrested or blocked from exercising their First Amendment rights of speech and assembly.
In addition to trying to cut off the flow of a major source of greenhouse-gas emissions, a key goal is to support the local and Indigenous people who often suffer the most from oil and gas development in their backyard.
Lambert said the groups they are funding have “an incredible moral authority,” which gives them power, and the Equation Campaign is designed to help them unleash the potential of that power.
Other donors to the Equation Campaign include the
One of the campaign’s grantees is the
In the case of Line 3, the Canadian company
The situation affected Verheyden-Hilliard in a very personal way. She says that while driving to a recent protest with actress and activist
A spokesperson for
Verheyden-Hilliard said a
One of the great things about the fund, she says, is that it responds quickly when problems flair up at protest sites.
“The Equation Campaign is uniquely positioned to identify emergent needs and act quickly,” says Verheyden-Hilliard. “Time and momentum matter. Getting funds to a movement at a time when it will make the most difference is extraordinarily important.”
The Equation Campaign also helps grantees connect with other donors, says Verheyden-Hilliard. It connected the
Lambert and Case said they decided to focus on oil and gas development because other donors, including some in the Rockefeller constellation of philanthropies, are already working to reduce the use of coal. Also, just as coal appears to be on the wane, drilling for other fossil fuels has started accelerating.
“At the time we were thinking about this, oil and gas production were ramping up at a terrifying speed,” Lambert said. “Not many groups were focused on stopping that expansion.”
Lambert and Case also offered a more personal reason for the choice of how to spend some of their inheritance.
“I feel a particular moral drive to utilize the funds that came from oil and gas extractions to find a way to put the genie back in the bottle,” says Case.
Lambert added, “This is oil money that came from the earth, and we’re investing it back in the earth.”
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