New breed of climate protesters vows to take fight to ‘cowards’ of US politics | Climate crisis

A climate protest group, backed by a cadre of Hollywood filmmakers, is preparing to take action against “cowards” and “criminals” of all political stripes as the 2024 election approaches.

Climate Defiance, which disrupted events with a string of Biden administration officials this year, and ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods, who was targeted in December, will consider protesting at events held by both Democrats and Republicans on the campaign trail after concluding that the “very disruptive” actions bear fruit.

In an interview, Michael Greenberg, the group’s co-founder, told the Guardian it would also focus “more and more” on state-level demonstrations designed to dissuade policymakers from approving fossil fuel projects.

Since protesting outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in the spring, its activists have held protests at events with a range of senior federal officials, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

Climate Defiance also had two separate public appearances by the chairman of the hiatus 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 ad.

“If we were a new group asking nicely, we’d be a random group with no name and the White House could only have conversations with groups a hundred times our size that were doing the same thing,” Greenberg, 30, said. are they talking to us?”

Instead, the group claims its protests at high-profile events have earned it a seat at the table. Ali Zaidi, the national climate advisor, was 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’re really intense and really syrupy,” Greenberg said. He said the fundamental goal of his group was to build the climate crisis into a top American political issue, “along with racial justice and kitchen table economic issues”.

The administration is taking note – and Climate Defiance is increasingly confident that this interest can be traced all the way to the Oval Office. “Congressman Ro Khanna said that the president is talking about us,” Greenberg added.

A spokesperson for the Department of Energy said: “To solve the climate crisis, we need to engage with a diverse range of stakeholders. Frank, substantive and constructive discussions between states, local leaders and climate organizations can create ways to work together to address this existential crisis that threatens humanity, create economic opportunities for our nations and save our planet.”

The Climate Emergency Fund, which has supported disruptive climate groups including Extinction Rebellion, provided Climate Defiance with about $225,000 in funding. The group received “roughly” the same amount from other donors, Greenberg said.

The fund’s directors include filmmakers Rory Kennedy, daughter of former US Attorney General and Senator Bobby Kennedy, and Adam McKay, director of The Big Short, Vice and Don’t Look Up. Succession actor Jeremy Strong joined the board in December.

As the presidential election campaign intensifies, Climate Defiance plans to deploy its playbook on the rails in an effort to push the climate crisis onto the agenda. “We will try to make climate change a top three issue in this election cycle,” Greenberg said.

The group targeted Democrats Biden administration because “they are the administration in power”, he said. Will it turn its attention to Republican events during the approaching voting day? “We just might,” Greenberg replied with a laugh. “I will not comment on that.”

The Federal Reserve and Powell, a Trump appointee, will also remain in the group’s sights. Climate Defiance wants the central bank to crack down on lenders financing fossil fuel projects, but the Fed has so far insisted such action would be “inappropriate.”

“The banks get a free pass to set the planet on fire, and the Fed does nothing about it,” Greenberg said. Powell, in his opinion, is “either asleep at the wheel or in bed with the fossil fuel executives”.

While a Fed spokesman declined to comment, Powell’s personal frustration with the protests was clear. “Just shut the fucking door,” he could be heard saying into a hot microphone as he was led off the stage in November.

Powell reappeared a few minutes later and did not directly address the protest. “OK, where was I?” he said.