“Why is it that the ruling elite who want to combat climate change aren’t willing to spend any of their OWN money doing so ?”
Because the whole purpose of all of the “climate change” hysteria is so that they can MAKE money - LOTS of money! (How much has crazy Algore made in the last 20 years by yelling that we are about to be underwater any minute now unless we pay him vast sums of money?)
To them it's a perfect storm: The professors get an endless stream of other people's money for more research and the Democrats get total control over our lives.