A climate protest group, backed by a cadre of Hollywood film-makers has announced that it is preparing to take action against “cowards” and “criminals” of all political stripes as the 2024 election approaches.
Climate Defiance, which disrupted events featuring a string of Biden administration officials this year, and targeted Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, in December, will consider protesting at events staged by both Democrats and Republicans on the campaign trail after concluding that its “very disruptive” action was bearing fruit.
In an interview, Michael Greenberg, who is the group’s co-founder was quoted as saying that it will also focus “more and more” on state-level demonstrations designed to deter policymakers from approving fossil fuel projects.
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Since demonstrating outside the White House correspondents’ dinner in the spring, its activists have staged protests at events featuring a string of senior federal officials, including the transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, and the energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, according to available reports.
Climate Defiance has also interrupted two separate public appearances by the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell. It is now recruiting for an organizing director to help coordinate “disruptive, nonviolent direct action to resist fossil fuel extraction”, according to a job advertisement.
“If we were a new group asking nicely, we’d be a random no-name group and the White House could just have conversations with groups a hundred times our size who did the same thing,” said Greenberg, 30. “Why would they talk to us?”
Rather, the group claims its demonstrations at high-profile events have got it a seat at the table. Ali Zaidi, who is the national climate adviser, has been on the phone. It also targeted David Turk, the deputy energy secretary, who invited Greenberg to a meeting days later.
“The reason they’re willing to meet with us is they know we are really intense and really strident,” said Greenberg. He said the fundamental goal of his group was to build the climate crisis into a top US political issue, “along with racial justice and kitchen table economic issues”.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
