But the usually means research now becomes a hobby, an after thought once work and family needs are satisfied. Doing research as a hobby is a lot harder then doing other things as a hobby. However, imagine if you could live off a grant for a year or two, and just the grant, then you could just take the risk, do something crazy.
Maybe it fails, but really isn't that the point? That's why the independent researchers left the academic game in the first place, because the system wants you to minimize risk (which in my mind is anti productive, risk should be more supported in research)
So give the independent researchers the opportunity to take the risk, and see what comes of it! Of course, 1k is not enough for U.S. citizens, but it could be for some other countries.
I mean, "fixing climate change" is like going on a diet. We pretty much know what we need to do, we just don't want to because it sucks.
It's not like we need a 0.01% change in emissions here, so what can $1000 a month do?
Consider 2020, where transportation took a major downturn over large parts of the world. Sure it made us emit a bit less CO2, but nowhere near what's required. And it's not like anyone wants that to continue.