Rich space nerds have this fantasy that the Earth is going to be turned into a smoldering fireball, or an unlivable post-climate change dystopian hellscape, and, well, there's just nothing we can do about that so we'd better figure out how to send 8 smart unappreciated rich guys and A LOT of hot breeding age women and some robot babysitters to do the hard work to, say, Mars, where they will solve the simple problem of interplanetary colonization and terraforming and begin the new utopian future dedicated to freedom and rule by rich nerds. To save humanity!
Probably a bit easier to clean things up a bit here at home, I imagine, but what do I know.