“We are ready to fight for our future with everything we’ve got. Our generation will not sit back while Trump and fossil fuel billionaires destroy our home.”
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As green groups honored the 55th annual Earth Day [last] Tuesday, environmental leaders are highlighting the need to fight back against the detrimental climate policies of US President Donald Trump and his “billionaire allies,” even as they brace for the possibility of further federal action that could hamper the climate movement.
Since entering office, Trump has signed executive orders aimed at bolstering oil, gas, and coal and installed Cabinet members with ties to the fossil fuel industry. Trump’s US Environmental Protection Agency administrator (EPA) in March announced a sweep of deregulatory actions and his administration has enacted cuts at federal agencies that work on environmental and climate issues, such the EPA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
For Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the youth-led Sunrise Movement, Earth Day was a call to action to resist these moves.
“We are ready to fight for our future with everything we’ve got. Our generation will not sit back while Trump and fossil fuel billionaires destroy our home,” said Shiney-Ajay in a statement [last] Tuesday. “We will not cooperate with the destruction of our world.”
“Donald Trump, backed by fossil fuel billionaires, is waging a full-scale assault on the very lifesaving protections that Earth Day was created to demand,” she added.
In addition to actions already taken, Trump reportedly considered targeting the nonprofit tax-exempt status of green groups, which allows them to forgo paying federal income tax. Such a move would likely impact their ability to fundraise because these groups collect tax-exempt donations. It was rumored that such an order could come down on Tuesday, to coincide with Earth Day. Though the possibility has been taken off the table “at this time” (per an administration official), Mother Jones reported last Wednesday that the threat alone was enough to shake the nonprofit world, and many groups are likely to continue preparing legal defenses instead of focusing on their regular work.
Ashley Nunes, public lands policy specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity, wrote in an op-ed [last] Tuesday that Trump has worked quickly to “pursue an agenda that puts the profits of his billionaire allies above the well-being of the American people and our environment.”
Trump’s strategy appears to be to do so much damage that it’s impossible to focus on one issue, wrote Nunes, “yet Earth Day reminds us that our public lands, wildlife, and climate are priorities among the flurry of broad and harmful executive actions.”
The executive director at the Center for Biological Diversity confirmed last week that the organization was preparing for a potential presidential order aimed at green groups’ tax-exempt status.
Anti-billionaire sentiment influenced the in-person Earth Day actions. The climate group Planet Over Profit and the protesters who organize under the slogan #TeslaTakedown picketed what they say is the New York home of James Murdoch, the son of billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch — and a Tesla board member. Tesla is the electric vehicle company of Trump’s billionaire adviser Elon Musk, who has played a core role in Trump’s efforts to slash the size of government.
The electric vehicle company is a target because “Tesla ranks fifth among companies producing toxic air pollution in the country” and “there’s no greater threat to our ability to live rich, dignified lives on a safe, stable planet than the Trump/Musk regime,” among other reasons, according to the organizers.
According to The Guardian, thousands of people gathered on April 19 in New York City for a march that was endorsed by climate and migrant justice groups. “The two movements converged amid Trump’s crackdown on migrants and embrace of fossil fuels — which will drive further climate collapse and forced migration,” according to the outlet.
Climate groups also coordinated Earth Day mobilization under the slogan “All Out on Earth Day.”
Meanwhile, EarthDay.org, the global organizer of Earth Day, featured Earth Day events around the globe on its website.
“We need to demonstrate to our leaders in government and business that we are still here, we are a witness to their actions, and we will hold them accountable to do right by our planet and its people,” wrote Susan Bass, the senior vice president of programs and operations at EarthDay.org, in an opinion piece.
This story by Eloise Goldsmith was originally published by Common Dreams and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. WhoWhatWhy has been a partner in Covering Climate Now since its inception in 2019.
