A climate activist group planning to “converge” on the White House and “risk arrest” while protesting receives funding from an organization bankrolled by massive donations from wealthy American elites.
Climate Defiance, a climate activist group established in 2023, announced the impending protest in a Monday tweet, stating that “the President has stabbed us in the back” by backing House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s debt ceiling deal that would expedite approval for the Mountain Valley Pipeline project. A Los Angeles-based 501(c)(3) organization called the Climate Emergency Fund (CEF), which receives millions from wealthy elites, is a source of funding for Climate Defiance, according to a Politico interview with CEF’s executive director.
Climate Defiance announced its upcoming White House protest “in rage and in sorrow,” arguing that the fast-tracked gas pipeline represents “a death sentence.” The group plans to protest Thursday at 2 p.m.
BREAKING: in rage and in sorrow, in love and in radical hope, today we share our plans: We will converge on the White House. And we will risk arrest. We call on every person of conscience to join us.
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) June 5, 2023
CEF itself receives funding in the form of donations from dozens of American elites, according to CEF’s 2022 annual report. Hillary Clinton’s Onward Together organization funneled $300,000 to CEF between March 2021 and April 2022, according to Fox News. (RELATED: Prominent Pro-Abortion Group Appears To Be Front For Radical Revolutionary Communists)
Other prominent elite donors to and supporters of CEF include Abigail Disney, Chelsea Handler, former Harvey Weinstein attorney and advisor Lisa Bloom, Adam McKay, and the oil heiress Aileen Getty’s charitable foundation, among numerous others, according to its 2022 annual report. McKay and Getty also serve on CEF’s Board of Directors. McKay pledged to donate $4 million to CEF in 2022, according to a 2022 CEF press release.
Three weeks ago today we made the pro-fossil fuel, pro-pipeline Senator Amy Klobuchar flee the stage at her book launch party.
Tonight she voted to stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
To our knowledge it is the first gas project she has ever opposed.
Direct action works. pic.twitter.com/0d7EdHiLqg
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) June 2, 2023
CEF also provides grants to fund a number of extreme climate protest groups beyond Climate Defiance. Other groups receiving funding from CEF beyond Climate Defiance include Just Stop Oil, Extinction Rebellion, and New York Communities For Change.
5. At the Correspondents Dinner, a Secret Service SUV tried to drive through us to get to the event. We held our ground. Eventually, the driver had to back away. pic.twitter.com/4SqIlchHCG
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) May 25, 2023
CEF shelled out $5.1 million in grants to 44 activist groups in 2022 alone, according to its website. The organization operates under the assumption that “disruptive, nonviolent activism can be an incredibly cost-effective way to catalyze transformational policy change,” according to its 2022 annual report. (RELATED: Protesters Attempt To Derail Hearing On China, One Holds ‘Stop Asian Hate’ Sign Upside Down)
Tonight protesters with @ClimateDefiance blockaded the street outside @SenSchumer‘s New York home to demand he reject the #DebtCeilingAgreement, which they call a “Dirty Deal” for fast-tracking fossil fuel projects.
Video by @JonFarinaPhoto for @N2Sreports pic.twitter.com/PStVy3z6vl
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) May 31, 2023
CEF has funded disruptive activism in 34 countries, according to its 2022 annual report. The organization has funded 106 organizations, trained over 30,0000 climate activists, and mobilized over 1 million protesters since its inception in 2019, according to its website.
A sign-up portal for Climate Defiance’s “pledge of resistance” asks whether or not a prospective protester would be willing to risk arrest for participating in the group’s activities. A separate fundraising page for the group promotes Climate Defiance’s aim to “make complicit climate cowards’ lives f*cking miserable.” (RELATED: Woman Charged With Spitting In Cop’s Face Is NYU Grad, Former Nadler Intern)
The announcement came just a day before a group of its members interrupted Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin’s remarks at a permitting reform summit hosted by Semafor.
BREAKING: we just **majorly disrupted** a speech by Biden advisor Heather Boushey, demanding the dirty deal be shelved. The Mountain Valley Pipeline is equivalent to adding 19,000,000 cars to the road. This is unconscionable. This is a death sentence for us. It’s time to rise. pic.twitter.com/lE4El6Uyy9
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) May 31, 2023
5. At the Correspondents Dinner, a Secret Service SUV tried to drive through us to get to the event. We held our ground. Eventually, the driver had to back away. pic.twitter.com/4SqIlchHCG
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) May 25, 2023
Climate Defiance has garnered attention for disruptive climate activism throughout 2023: they have protested the White House Correspondents Dinner, heckled Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and disrupted speeches from Biden administration officials.
Neither Climate Defiance nor CEF responded immediately to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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