In yet another victory for Elon Musk and the future of American space dominance, a federal judge on Monday <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/17/texas-spacex-boca-chica-faa-environmental-lawsuit/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">dismissed a lawsuit</a> from environmental activists attempting to derail SpaceX’s rocket launch operations in South Texas. The lawsuit, filed by groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity and the American Bird Conservancy, claimed that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) violated federal law by approving SpaceX’s launch program without conducting a more rigorous environmental impact review.
At the heart of the dispute was the FAA’s 2022 approval of SpaceX’s expanded rocket activity at Boca Chica — now the newly incorporated city of Starbase — adjacent to a wildlife refuge. Environmental groups insisted that noise, construction, road traffic, and light pollution from rocket launches endangered local wildlife, including ocelots, jaguarundis, and Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles.
But U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols wasn’t buying it.
In his ruling, Nichols made it clear: the FAA had fulfilled its legal responsibility under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by conducting a Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA), which included mitigation measures. The judge said of the FAA’s analysis, “Most of the (assessment&#8217;s) conclusions were well-reasoned and supported by the record,” adding it fell “within a broad zone of reasonableness”—a key legal standard that gives agencies latitude to make policy decisions without courts stepping in to micromanage.
He emphasized that most of the FAA’s conclusions were “well-reasoned and supported by the record,” and dismissed the environmentalists’ claims that the FAA simply rubber-stamped SpaceX’s data.
This ruling is especially significant in light of President Donald Trump’s August 13 <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/08/enabling-competition-in-the-commercial-space-industry/">executive order</a>, which sought to streamline and loosen environmental regulations for private space companies. Trump called it “imperative to national security” that rocket launches dramatically increase by 2030.
SpaceX has already received FAA approval to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/sep/15/musk-spacex-texas-wildlife?utm_source=chatgpt.com">ramp up</a> Starship launches from five to twenty-five per year at the Texas site. The company is also aiming to nearly double the number of Falcon rocket launches at California’s Vandenberg base. This lawsuit threatened to throw a wrench into those plans — until Nichols shut it down.
The environmentalists also took issue with the April 2023 Starship test launch, which ended in a dramatic explosion, scattering debris across wildlife habitats.
The judge’s decision leaves Musk’s vision of making humanity multi-planetary — and launching frequently from the Lone Star State — very much intact. Environmental activists may appeal, but for now, the courts are siding with American innovation over bureaucratic obstruction.

TOPSHOT-US-SPACE-AEROSPACE-SPACEX-STARSHIP

SpaceX Wins Again: Judge Tosses Environmental Challenge To Starbase Launches

Business

Courts

Elon Musk

Environmentalists

Space X

Texas

There’s a new sheriff in town in Washtenaw County, Michigan, who is pushing for major changes to how the sheriff’s department enforces laws and policies that she says are important to protecting the environment. 
Sheriff Alyshia Dyer, a former deputy who became a social worker, is <a href="https://www.dyer2024.com/priorities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">focused</a> on protecting the community “from the negative environmental and human health impacts of pollution and climate change.” Dyer, a Democrat, was sworn in earlier this month, becoming Washtenaw County’s first female sheriff after she pulled out an upset victory in the Democratic Party primary in August and ran unopposed in the general election. 
In a phone interview with The Daily Wire, the new sheriff emphasized that under her leadership, the sheriff’s department will drastically change its outlook on environmental issues and said that she wants to implement an “Environmental Crimes Unit” in her first term, which would focus on looking into “air pollution, water contamination, and hazardous waste management.” 
“The sheriff’s office historically hasn’t been necessarily a strong champion in this work, but there’s no reason we can’t be,” Dyer said. 
Washtenaw County — which encompasses Ann Arbor, where the University of Michigan is located — had the <a href="https://witl.com/michigan-counties-with-the-most-crimes-committed/">10th highest</a> crime rate among Michigan counties in 2021, and in each of the following years, the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office <a href="https://www.washtenaw.org/3915/Sheriff-Data-Information-Dashboard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> over 1,000 assault offenses, over 900 larceny/theft offenses, and more than 100 sex offenses. 
Dyer told The Daily Wire that bringing down violent crime in Washtenaw County is “connected” to fighting for environmental justice and prioritizing officers’ “mental health and wellness.&#8221; 
“It’s all connected. Looking at, number one, I talked a lot about officer mental health and wellness. Officers can’t effectively do their jobs if they’re not taking care of themselves. Looking at the environment, looking at corporate polluters, looking at the quality of life for residents, it has a really big impact on wellbeing.”
Dyer argued that it’s important for the sheriff’s department to focus on “creating better environments for the community.” 
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After publication, the Washtenaw County Sheriff&#8217;s Office sent a statement to The Daily Wire, reiterating its commitment to fighting violent crime and saying that &#8220;violent crime specialty units will remain, along with the implementation of investigative units to focus on corporate and environmental crime.&#8221;
Instituting environmental policies in the sheriff’s department would begin with reducing vehicle emissions from the department’s patrol car fleet, according to the new sheriff. To accomplish this, Dyer suggested placing new systems in patrol cars that cut back on gas or potentially moving to electric vehicles. 
“We have the largest fleet in the county,” Dyer said. “So we’re thinking about moving toward reducing vehicle emissions. There’s another sheriff’s office, I believe it was in Santa Barbara, California, and they put idling reduction systems in their cars, saved 260 gallons of gasoline. Also adding remote starters so deputies aren’t leaving their vehicles running all day, so it’s easy to turn them on and off — things like that.” 
Dyer said she plans to cut back on the number of patrol vehicles on the road and put two deputies in a patrol car instead of one, a move the sheriff said will help cut back on emissions. The main reason for pairing up deputies, according to Dyer, however, is to “help reduce vehicle crashes” and “lower stress” on officers who are currently working 16-hour shifts. In a statement to The Daily Wire after publication, the sheriff&#8217;s office said that deputies requested to be paired up in patrol vehicles. 
“The last thing I want is officers out here sleep-deprived with a gun, angry, driving around. No one wants that,” Dyer added.  
Asked if the sheriff’s department has any plan to hire more deputies, Dyer replied, “We do need to fill some spots because we are probably the shortest in road patrol that we have been in a very long time, which has created a lot of forced overtime, which has hurt morale, hurt staff, and in turn, has hurt the community.”
“We’re trying to get hiring up. It has been harder to hire in law enforcement because everyone is hiring,” the sheriff continued. “So that is something we’re definitely focused on.”  
Dyer <a href="https://www.dyer2024.com/priorities">wrote</a> on her campaign website that she will prioritize “diversity” and “inclusivity” in the hiring process. She lamented that “the Sheriff’s Office is predominantly male, white, and not representative of our LGBTQ+ population” and vowed to ensure “that hiring practices are inclusive.” 
The new sheriff will partner with a leftist prosecutor, Eli Savit, who was just re-elected after running unopposed, according to a <a href="https://boltsmag.org/a-michigan-sheriff-and-prosecutor-join-forces-to-implement-progressive-policy-washtenaw-county/">report</a> from Bolts. Savit was first elected to office in 2020 amid the protests and riots that spread across the country after George Floyd’s death in police custody. The leftist prosecutor has taken a soft-on-crime approach to criminal justice and has also <a href="https://www.washtenaw.org/3284/Prosecutor-Eli-Savit">pushed</a> “environmental initiatives in Michigan and across the country.” 
Dyer also said she’s looking forward to partnering with the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office to go after corporate crimes, such as “wage theft” and “tip theft.” 
“Hand-in-hand with the environmental crimes is also the corporate crimes,” she said.
This article has been updated to include an additional comment from the Washtenaw County Sheriff&#8217;s Office.

Alyshia Dyer

New Sheriff In Major Michigan County Wants To Fight Violent Crime Through ‘Environmental Justice’

Michigan

Sheriff

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) on Monday will participate in a campaign event alongside the radical environmentalist group pushing to close the state&#8217;s largest coal plant.
The Sierra Club, a radical environmental group that pushes for the closure of &#8220;all U.S. coal plants,&#8221; will join Brown at a virtual phone bank sponsored by the Ohio Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign. Earlier this month the group, along with the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, sent a <a href="https://pestakeholder.org/news/pesp-sends-letters-to-blackstone-ecp-urging-gavin-plant-retirement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to Blackstone, the owner of the Gavin coal plant in southeast Ohio, demanding the coal plant be shut down.
&#8220;You cannot undo the damage from pollutants emitted during Blackstone’s nearly eight years of ownership of Gavin. But you have the opportunity to announce a retirement date of no later than 2028, which could lend Blackstone some credibility in its pledges of emissions reductions and an energy transition and avoid the perception that Blackstone is incapable of shepherding assets through an energy transition and is simply interested in passing the buck,&#8221; the letter read.
The Sierra Club&#8217;s &#8220;Beyond Coal Campaign&#8221; is seeking to replace &#8220;coal and gas with clean energy&#8221; by &#8220;retiring coal plants, preventing new fossil fuel plants from being built, and working to stop the expansion of fracked gas.&#8221;
Brown&#8217;s partnership with the Sierra Club could cause him problems as he navigates a close race against Republican Bernie Moreno in a state that has long relied on coal for energy and jobs. Brown has attempted to position himself as a moderate on energy, vowing that he &#8220;will not turn my back on Ohio’s rural electric co-ops, Ohio energy workers, and Ohio families whose energy bills are already too high.&#8221;
The Sierra Club officially <a href="https://www.sierraclubindependentaction.org/endorsements#OH" target="_blank" rel="noopener">endorsed</a> Brown, and <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/sierra-club/summary?id=D000000259" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gave</a> over $2,000 to his campaign this cycle.
Brown&#8217;s office did not respond to a request for comment.
The Sierra Club refers to the Gavin coal plant, which is the largest coal plant in Ohio, as &#8220;America&#8217;s deadliest coal plant.&#8221; Earlier this week, the group also launched an ad campaign calling on Blackstone to close the plant. The Gavin plant employs around 300 people, and energy experts <a href="https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/regulation/bidens-epa-likes-to-deny-permits/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warn</a> that closing coal plants, such as the one in Cheshire, Ohio, would &#8220;negatively impact the stability of the electric grid and power markets.&#8221;
Southeast Ohio has long relied on coal for energy and jobs, and Brown has uniquely positioned himself as a Democrat who opposes some of the Biden-Harris administration&#8217;s clean energy mandates for power plants. As the Environmental Protection Agency was seeking to implement new power plant emission rules earlier this year, Brown <a href="https://www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/sherrod-brown-will-vote-to-overturn-epa-power-plant-rule" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the &#8220;unachievable rule &#8230; could undermine grid reliability, cause job losses for energy workers, and raise energy costs for Ohioans.&#8221; Brown has also vowed that he &#8220;will not turn my back on Ohio’s rural electric co-ops, Ohio energy workers, and Ohio families whose energy bills are already too high.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1726313279401000&amp;usg=AOvVaw115_qPFFEePDP86-Fvo-Vd">Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here!</a>
Energy has become a top issue of the 2024 presidential campaign, as former President Donald Trump is promising to ramp up U.S. drilling and fracking, adding that he wants to reduce Americans&#8217; energy costs by 50% in his first year back in office. The former president <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-addressing-economic-woes-begins-with-one-issue" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> during a town hall event in Michigan earlier this month that reducing the cost of groceries begins with addressing high energy costs.
&#8220;We have to start always with energy,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;I don’t want to be boring about it, but there’s no bigger subject that covers everything. If you make donuts, if you make cars, whatever you make, energy is a big deal.&#8221;

Sherrod Brown

Ohio Dem Senator To Hold Event With Group Pushing To Close State’s Largest Coal Plant

Ohio Dem Senator To Hold Virtual Event With Group Pushing To Close State's Largest Coal Plant

2024 Election

Coal

Ohio

U.S. Senate

The following is an edited transcript of an interview with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley and Jerry Leeman, CEO of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association, on an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/a-win-for-fisherman-chevron-deference-is-overturned-7-6-24" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Extra edition of Morning Wire</a>.
In a landmark ruling last week, the Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference, stripping federal agencies of what had become increasingly unilateral power to interpret and enforce policies without checks and balances. The ruling was a result of a lawsuit, Relentless Incorporated vs. Commerce Department, involving government overreach in the fishing industry. We talked with the founder of an influential fishermen’s association, who filed an amicus brief in that case, about what he says is a long pattern of government intrusion that’s destroying whole industries.
* * *
JOHN: Joining us now is Jerry Leeman, New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association <a href="https://www.nefishermen.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Founder &amp; CEO</a>, who filed an amicus brief in the case that ended up overturning Chevron deference. Welcome, Jerry. First, tell us about your background. How long have you been in the fishing industry?
JERRY: I was raised in Harpswell, Maine by a commercial fishing family – lobstering and ground fishing, seining, urchining, scalloping, shrimping, back when the state of Maine had it. I&#8217;ve been in all the fisheries. Since 2000, I have spent 23 years at sea. Fishing 220-240 days a year, multi-species trawling. I&#8217;ve been networked in all the major fishing ports here: Portland, Maine, Gloucester, Boston, Mass, New Bedford, Mass. And I&#8217;ve covered a lot of the region&#8217;s territory.
JOHN: In terms of progress and decline, what have you seen in this industry as a whole over the decades you&#8217;ve worked in it?
JERRY: I&#8217;ve been seeing decline steadily since 2000. We don&#8217;t even see new participants really getting into the fisheries. We&#8217;ve moved the goalposts too far. And now with these restrictions and quotas, now you&#8217;re forcing people to buy fish in order to catch fish. And the problem is the price that you pay to catch a fish is less than the market value once you&#8217;ve retrieved it. So most times when you go to buy a lease quota, you&#8217;re only buying it just for the sake of keeping the vessel active. You&#8217;re not actually making any financial gain. If anything, it&#8217;s a financial burden.
JOHN: Now this brings us to the case in which you filed, an amicus brief: Relentless Incorporated vs. Commerce Department. It’s now the case that overturned Chevron deference. It came in response to a new federal law requiring government observers on fishing vessels. What sparked your involvement in the case? 
JERRY: Well, we’ve just been watching what&#8217;s been taking place over the years and now that they&#8217;re pushing for fishing vessels to pay for observers aboard our vessels, which if you do the breakdown, now they&#8217;re going to account for the fisheries to pay more towards observers than we&#8217;re actually paying our crews, which does not make for a viable business.
JOHN: So this really was a question of whether or not you can actually keep business open if this policy were to be enacted.
JERRY: This was a fisheries killer.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/a-win-for-fisherman-chevron-deference-is-overturned-7-6-24" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LISTEN: Catch the full interview with Jerry Leeman on an Extra edition of Morning Wire</a></h4>
JOHN: So, what was the thinking from the government here, that this would actually be viable?
JERRY: It&#8217;s just more overreach and overwatch. I mean, we have less fishermen every year and yet now they want 100% coverage? We haven&#8217;t even broken any rules or laws. So why are we having to pay to have somebody watch us around the clock? I mean, our arguments were pretty easy. I mean, look at how many truck drivers are in America. How would we feel if we put an observer in each truck and then made those truck drivers pay to feed those observers, maintain them, babysit, and pay them more than what they&#8217;re paying their crews? It&#8217;s preposterous.
<div id="attachment_759847" style="width: 861px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-759847" class="size-large wp-image-759847" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/GettyImages-602983061-851x576.jpg" alt="USA, Maine, St. George, Three fishermen working on boat." width="851" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/GettyImages-602983061-851x576.jpg 851w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/GettyImages-602983061-300x203.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/GettyImages-602983061-768x520.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/GettyImages-602983061-1536x1039.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/GettyImages-602983061-2048x1385.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 851px) 100vw, 851px" />Daniel Grill/Tetra Images</div>
JOHN: Is this part of a pattern that you&#8217;ve seen from the Commerce Department related to the fishing industry?
JERRY: Oh, this is something that&#8217;s been taking place for quite a while now, and this is a good first step in the right direction.
JOHN: You said “first step.” Are there some other things you believe need to be overruled or overturned in terms of policies?
JERRY: I think some of these policies that have been dictated to the fisheries didn&#8217;t have a logical excuse, as far as the economics of the fisheries viability, which has been detrimental. If you talk to fishermen and recreational fishermen up and down the coast, nobody seems to see a problem in our biomass, but yet our surveys that keep coming back are depleting our allowable catches. And then on top of that they&#8217;re requesting us to pay for observers. These are people that come straight from college with little to no experience at sea. And here in New England, we have variable weather. I mean, it&#8217;s not very nice out there in the winter months. So now you have somebody that doesn&#8217;t even know if they get seasick trapped on a vessel with us for 10 days and then it&#8217;s our responsibility to monitor them and to keep them safe. It was a lot of overreach.
JOHN: What do you think the role of the federal government should be with the fishing industry?
JERRY: Well, we&#8217;re a big part of our food securities. Up here in New England, this has been a major part of this country&#8217;s food banks. And now we&#8217;re removing it from the populace. 94% of the product that is now consumed is foreign product. So why are we restricting U.S. harvesters from providing wild, local, heart-healthy product that&#8217;s environmentally friendly and sustainable? Meanwhile, we&#8217;re purchasing product from other nations that do not abide by our rules and regulations. This has been something that&#8217;s been going on for a while. Now we have less fishermen than we had in colonial days. And this was just one more further step in pretty much cutting the throats of the entire fishing fleet.
JOHN: What do you hope to see in the coming years from both the federal government and state governments? How can they help the industry thrive again?
JERRY: Well, a lot of it has to do with the data that we receive. I mean, it&#8217;ll be good to have knowledgeable fishermen who have spent their entire lives, decades at sea, using these equipment to garner the best data available using the science teams. So, this guess on modeling based on multiple surveys would be more accurate, which would allow us to develop better marketing strategies, put together working fisheries and education to be applied to the future. I mean, right now, we teach fisheries management in college. We don&#8217;t teach fisheries.
JOHN: What do you mean by that – that we don&#8217;t teach fisheries?
JERRY: Well, we teach how fishing management works based on surveys, allocations, and statistical committees. But as far as using trawl gear, migrational patterns of our stocks, and how to harvest these things responsibly and sustainably, mending is a big part of trawling, we don&#8217;t really teach that as well. We have no educational classes on getting fundamentally educated employees to get the job done safely in a manageable, environmentally friendly way.
JOHN: What&#8217;s the solution for that? Who should provide that education?
JERRY: It&#8217;s going to have to be from the fisheries that are pre-existing, and right now we have an aging fleet, so we&#8217;re on a ticking time bomb as far as passing that knowledge on to the next generation. That has been the forefront of my arguments — you only know what you know and how do you know it? The fishermen that came before us learned from the fishermen in their region based on time and effort. And that&#8217;s something that has been passed down through families and multiple vessels and skippers to their mates who passed that knowledge over time and effort to their mates. And that&#8217;s how, collectively, we&#8217;ve moved along and advanced ourselves. But now we have so very few people left. And we don&#8217;t teach these things. I mean, back in the 80s and 90s, a lot of schools used to offer programs with marine trades. And that&#8217;s something that went away about 25 years ago. And now what we&#8217;re left with is a crippled fleet.
JOHN: Do you have hope that the industry will bounce back?
JERRY: I think there is time to still salvage that knowledge and pass it onto the next generation, which will go back to the food securities of this nation. I mean, it&#8217;s one thing to say we have it, but we have to be able to harvest it to provide it to the U.S consumer, and to do so in a responsible, sustainable way, so this way our food securities of the nations are here for longevity.
JOHN: Well, Jerry, thank you for talking with us – and for taking the steps you did to protect your industry.
JERRY: Thank you very much. 
***
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/a-win-for-fisherman-chevron-deference-is-overturned-7-6-24" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LISTEN: Catch the full interview with Jerry Leeman on an Extra edition of Morning Wire</a></h4>

Line of colorful lobster boats, Portland, Maine.

‘This Was A Fisheries Killer:’ The Fisherman Who Fought Chevron Deference All The Way To The Supreme Court

'This Was A Fisheries Killer:' The Fisherman Who Fought Chevron Deference All The Way To The Supreme Court

Chevron deference

Fisherman

Fishing

Morning Wire

Readers Pass

Supreme Court

Here&#8217;s a little ancient history that&#8217;s suddenly become relevant again. 39 years ago this month, just ahead of the summer solstice, the Battle of the Beanfield took place in Wiltshire, England. This wasn&#8217;t a &#8220;battle&#8221; in the traditional military sense. It was a violent confrontation between a convoy of around 600 New Age hippies, and roughly a thousand police officers. 
The police officers were there to enforce an injunction preventing the hippies from holding a festival at Stonehenge. That injunction was necessary because, just one year earlier, around 100,000 hippies had — as hippies tend to do — caused tens of thousands of dollars in property damage to trees, fences and several archeological artifacts in the area, including Stonehenge itself.
So, in 1985, the authorities understandably wanted to prevent any more hippie carnage from being inflicted on Stonehenge. They set up a roadblock several miles away to turn the &#8220;New Age travelers&#8221; away. That&#8217;s when, according to the BBC, &#8220;Police said they came under attack, being pelted with lumps of wood, stones and even petrol bombs.&#8221; 
Of course, to this day, the hippies maintain the police were the aggressors. That&#8217;s probably not true, but it certainly appears that the police officers used significant force once mayhem broke out. At one point, the police reportedly threw fire extinguishers and stones at the hippies to keep them from fleeing. In any event, ultimately, two dozen people were hospitalized, and more than 500 hippies were arrested. By most accounts, the Battle of the Beanfield marked the single largest mass arrest in the history of England, at least since World War II.
I mention the Battle of the Beanfield because it illustrates a couple of things. First of all, it demonstrates an obvious point, which is that the use of force by police officers does indeed deter lawlessness. You don’t have to endorse all of the tactics the police used that day in order to see that. In the years after the Battle of the Beanfield, there were still some hippies who tried to throw a festival at Stonehenge for the summer solstice, but it was nothing like what happened in 1985. For the most part, the hippies got the message loud and clear.
The other important takeaway is that, for whatever reason, Stonehenge has long been an object of fixation for antisocial, anti-civilization, anti-human weirdos. Most likely, the interest stems from the mystique of the whole construction. Stonehenge was constructed more than 5,000 years ago without the benefit of the wheel, and it&#8217;s still unclear to archaeologists exactly how the builders pulled that off — or even who exactly the builders were. It&#8217;s one of the most impressive monuments ever built in human history, so it kind of makes sense that listless, uninteresting people would latch onto Stonehenge in a desperate attempt to imbue their own lives with more meaning.
That brings us to the events that took place at Stonehenge yesterday. 
A couple of vandals associated with the group &#8220;Just Stop Oil&#8221; — one aged 73 and the other aged 21 — charged towards Stonehenge and began blanketing it with some kind of orange powder paint. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="001 Spray Paint Stonehenge" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RtBSvmkv2WM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&nbsp;
As you can see, it fell to a tourist to stop these two people from defacing Stonehenge. There were no police officers nearby to immediately detain them, so a random guy on vacation had to step up to preserve one of the most famous structures in the entire world. We&#8217;ve seen this again and again. When vandals <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/national-archives-rotunda-evacuated-climate-activists-dump-pink-powder-case-holding-us-constitution" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dumped</a> pink powder on the case containing the U.S. Constitution at the National Archives Rotunda in February, no security guards lifted a finger to stop them. Late last year, activists with Just Stop Oil were able to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/14/just-stop-oil-activists-throw-soup-at-van-goghs-sunflowers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">throw</a> soup on a Van Gogh painting, then glue themselves to the wall, all without anyone intervening. And of course, on too many occasions to count, these kinds of activists have obstructed traffic with impunity. They get away with it so consistently because, at some level, they have the tacit endorsement of the state.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1391-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h4>
I&#8217;ve covered these brats extensively before, but even with all those other incidents in mind, this latest attack on Stonehenge is especially egregious to me. Defacing a monument as ancient as Stonehenge is really an attack on humanity. The fact that Stonehenge is still standing is a testament to human ingenuity and resourcefulness that&#8217;s hard to comprehend even to this day, thousands of years later. The only people who would want to deface or destroy Stonehenge and erase the evidence of humanity&#8217;s accomplishments are people who despise humanity itself. It&#8217;s the same reason why climate activists want everyone to stop having children. It&#8217;s the same reason they want to &#8220;end fossil fuels&#8221; and crash the global economy. They&#8217;re not really concerned about global temperatures rising by a degree or two. They want humanity to go extinct.
In comments to the media, Just Stop Oil has denied all of this. They&#8217;ve claimed that this orange cornflour paint is going to wash away in the rain, so it&#8217;s not really vandalism. Of course, Just Stop Oil has made that same claim before when they vandalized several other monuments, and it&#8217;s turned out to be false. 
Additionally, there are apparently 80 <a href="https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/two-arrestedjust-stop-oil-protesters-spray-stonehenge-orange-paint-99fp2gf2t#:~:text=Nearly%2080%20species%20of%20lichen,sea%20cliffs%2C%20according%20to%20Richards." target="_blank" rel="noopener">species</a> of lichen on Stonehenge that might be dead now, including rare species that scientists wanted to preserve. They&#8217;re still trying to figure out the precise extent of the damage. And even if it does all wash away, they still have no right to use an ancient monument as a platform for their delusional political statement. So even if the paint ultimately does come off, the point remains the same: these activists are fundamentally anti-human — and they&#8217;re becoming increasingly emboldened. In a video message, the 21-year-old Stonehenge attacker — who apparently identifies as nonbinary — explained why they/them/zim/zir decided to deface the monument. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="002 Plan for Stonehenge" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ceHz547ZHQI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
A few things to note here. First of all, there&#8217;s something physicians refer to as the &#8220;gestalt.&#8221; That includes a person&#8217;s general appearance, tone of voice, and the like. And the gestalt is a little concerning here. For starters, this person is whispering for some reason, which comes off as a little unsettling. On top of that, this nonbinary activist is also wearing a Patagonia shirt, even though Patagonia <a href="https://www.patagonia.com/climate-goals/#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">admits</a> on its website that its vast array of suppliers — by necessity — relies on fossil fuels to conduct operations. They emit something like 200,000 metric tons of CO2 every year. So I guess we&#8217;re meant to conclude that ending fossil fuels is important, except when nonbinary University of Oxford students need a nice sweater vest or t-shirt. Then fossil fuels are okay. 
Of course, every accusation is really an admission with these people. When these activists warn of death and destruction and devastation on an &#8220;immeasurable scale,&#8221; they’re actually revealing precisely what groups like Just Stop Oil want to happen. It&#8217;s what they know will happen if Western nations stop producing fossil fuels, which supply an overwhelming majority of the world&#8217;s energy. We&#8217;ll be taken over by China in about a week. Civilization as we know it will come to an end.
For some reason, that appears to be what a significant number of young people now want to see happen. They&#8217;ve been indoctrinated into a nihilistic death cult. And on social media, many of these young people are now celebrating what just happened at Stonehenge. On Twitter, Oli London posted an <a href="https://x.com/olilondontv/status/1803529776969167156?s=46" target="_blank" rel="noopener">image</a> of a blue-haired British archeologist with &#8220;she/they&#8221; pronouns who wrote that the attack was &#8220;well done.&#8221; More than 10,000 people liked that particular tweet, which gives you some indication of how popular the sentiment is.
It&#8217;s not hard to see why this is becoming a trend. For one thing, there&#8217;s a lot of money in it. 
As Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dark-money-fund-poured-millions-dollars-eco-activist-groups-blocking-highways-destroying-famous-art" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> late last year, the Beverly Hills, California-based, Climate Emergency Fund, or CEF, sent roughly $4 million in grants overseas in 2022 alone: &#8220;The most sizable slice [of these grants was] wired to U.K. climate activists. The largest beneficiary of CEF&#8217;s funds appeared to be Just Stop Oil, a British activist group that has repeatedly made headlines for stopping traffic and disrupting public places across the UK.&#8221; And this is just one dark money group based in the United States.
So that amateur quality, creepy video you just saw from the nonbinary activist may have been amateurish on purpose. In reality, Just Stop Oil is an extremely well-funded operation. They could&#8217;ve sprung for better production quality if they wanted to. So-called &#8220;environmental activism&#8221; is now a very big business, and a lot of people are making a lot of money on it from sources we can&#8217;t identify.
That could be one reason the whole movement is attractive to young people, many of whom are now looking for jobs. On top of that, of course, government officials all over the world have become propagandists who indoctrinate young people as a matter of course. 
Here for example is New York governor Kathy Hochul warning of an impending heat emergency in the city:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="003 NY Gov hot weather" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aI7MUNVFr2k?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&nbsp;
The central claim that Kathy Hochul is making — that New York has never before seen temperatures that feel like 100° — is completely false. It&#8217;s so obviously false that you can disprove it with about five seconds of Googling. According to the National Weather Service, the highest temperature ever <a href="https://www.weather.gov/media/okx/Climate/CentralPark/extremes.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recorded</a> in New York City&#8217;s Central Park was 106° Fahrenheit, all the way back in July of 1936. And that&#8217;s the actual temperature, not the heat index. 
Before that, there was a heat wave in 1896 that killed more than 1,000 people, as temperatures exceeded 90°. The National Weather Service reports that the warmest month on record in New York was all the way back in July of 1999. And in several years since, New York has hit 100° on several occasions.
So what Kathy Hochul is saying is wrong for about a million reasons. But she said it anyway because she knows it&#8217;s effective. People hear what she&#8217;s saying — especially young people — and they believe it. They become activists and loyal voters for the Democrats. And unless they&#8217;re met with force, as they were at the Battle of the Beanfield, some of those activists will continue to deface priceless historical artifacts to attract attention to their nihilistic death cult. They will continue to block roadways, preventing people from going to work and ambulances from transporting patients. Appeasing these cultists simply does not work. That much is now very clear. If we want to have any monuments or any history left at all, we need to take the threat as seriously as the British did in 1985, and shut them down.

Rainbow over Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain

Anti-Human Eco Brats Deface One Of The Oldest Monuments On Earth

Activists

Climate Change

England

Opinion

Protesters

U.K.

Vandalism

A fanatical environmentalist group claimed it wrecked a gala at which Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski was to be honored by a major oil company and called her a “murderer” and an “ecocidal pyromaniac.”
A video posted by the group Climate Defiance, a self-proclaimed “youth-led group using direct action to resist fossil fuels,” showed people storming a stage and tussling with other participants at the event.
“We just shut down a gala honoring U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski,” the group tweeted. “Murkowski is a murderer. She incinerates us to enrich her cronies. As Chevron&#8217;s top lobbyist gave her an award, we stepped in and stopped the ceremony. Respect us or expect us.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
BREAKING: We just shut down a gala honoring U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski. Murkowski is a murderer. She incinerates us to enrich her cronies. As Chevron&#39;s top lobbyist gave her an award, we stepped in and stopped the ceremony. Respect us or expect us. 🧵 <a href="https://t.co/Q72mHerpdg">pic.twitter.com/Q72mHerpdg</a>
&mdash; Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateDefiance/status/1780981172442415450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
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“Murkowski brands herself as a moderate but in truth she is an ecocidal pyromaniac. She fought tooth and nail to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to big oil. Is nothing sacred? Is nothing sacred?” they continued.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Murkowski brands herself as a moderate but in truth she is an ecocidal pyromaniac. She fought tooth and nail to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to big oil. Is nothing sacred? Is nothing sacred? (2/5) <a href="https://t.co/PTcG8TvSvz">pic.twitter.com/PTcG8TvSvz</a>
&mdash; Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateDefiance/status/1780981174296289352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
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“Murkowski played a lead role in persuading Biden to approve the Willow Project. This monstrosity will transport 200,000 barrels of oil every single day. This is hideous. This is cruel and barbaric beyond description,” they added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Murkowski played a lead role in persuading Biden to approve the Willow Project. This monstrosity will transport 200,000 barrels of oil every single day. This is hideous. This is cruel and barbaric beyond description. (3/5)
&mdash; Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateDefiance/status/1780981176565461073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
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The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) consists of 19,286,722 acres in northeastern Alaska. Polar bears, grizzly bears, and American black bears reside within the Refuge, along with moose, caribou, wolves, and foxes. In August 2020, the Department of opened 1.5 million acres of the coastal plain for drilling, less than 1% of the area of the ANWR. On January 20, 2021, President Biden, on his first day in office, implemented a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-protecting-public-health-and-environment-and-restoring-science-to-tackle-climate-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">moratorium</a> on oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
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Referring to the coastal plain, the U.S. Geological Survey has <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs-0028-01/fs-0028-01.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, “Technically recoverable oil within the ANWR 1002 area (excluding State and Native areas) is estimated to be between 4.3 and 11.8 billion barrels (95- and 5-percent probability range), with a mean value of 7.7 billion barrels.”
“Total petroleum imports into the United States amounted to 8.5 million barrels per day in 2023,” <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/191251/total-petroleum-imports-into-the-us-since-2000/#:~:text=Total%20petroleum%20imports%20into%20the,petroleum%20imported%20into%20the%20U.S." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Statista</a> reported.
If 7.7 billion barrels could be retrieved from the ANWR, that would constitute importation of 8.5 million barrels for 905 years, assuring American energy independence for nearly a millennium.

2023 JDRF Children’s Congress, Senate Appropriations Committee Hearing

‘Murderer … Ecocidal Pyromaniac’: Radical Eco-Group Claims It Stormed Stage, Wrecked Murkowski Event

Alaska

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Lisa Murkowski

Oil and Gas

Politics

Republican officials continued their probe of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/blackrock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BlackRock</a> this week, saying that the financial giant has not been forthcoming about how climate activists are shaping its policies, according to a letter first obtained by The Daily Wire.
In a <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/Follow_up_letter_to_BlackRock_Directors_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to BlackRock on Tuesday, 15 Republican attorneys general led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, demanded more answers from BlackRock about its participation in climate organizations and what kind of environmental, social, and governance policies it has implemented. BlackRock, which has over $10 trillion in assets, has faced scrutiny from Republicans over accusations that it prioritizes leftist activism over customer benefit.
“I have serious concerns about BlackRock’s Environmental, Social, and Governance investments, their conflicting statements regarding ESG, and the potential conflicts of interest with independent fund directors,” Knudsen told The Daily Wire. “Mutual fund directors have a fiduciary obligation to their clients to make them as much money as possible, but BlackRock appears to be more concerned with pushing the woke, liberal agenda.”
The 18-page letter raises concerns about conflicting statements made by BlackRock on ESG, BlackRock’s participation in leftist climate groups, and conflicts of interests.
BlackRock recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/financial-giants-pull-14-trillion-from-climate-group-that-pressures-companies-to-take-action-on-climate-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stepped away</a> from the Climate Action 100+ organization, but remains in other groups like the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, and Ceres. BlackRock International, a subsidiary, is still part of the Climate Action organization.
Knudson told The Daily Wire that while BlackRock “took a step in the right direction by dropping out Climate Action 100+ earlier this month, it’s not enough.”
“BlackRock has made commitments to environmental activist groups that may conflict with the fiduciary duties it owes to clients, and we seek more information about how the independent directors have overseen this,” the letter says. “Further, BlackRock’s relationships with certain large institutional clients, especially state pension funds, may unduly influence BlackRock’s overall approach to engaging with companies in which it invests, including investments that have disclaimed any reliance or focus on ESG factors.”
The Republicans AGs also say that BlackRock has made misleading statements about the motivations behind its ESG policies. Some comments from BlackRock indicate that it believes that ESG policies provide financial benefit are undercut by other statements that sustainability criteria don’t help assess the potential risk or reward of a fund, the letter notes.
“BlackRock’s claims that its focus on climate and ESG is motivated by concern about financial return are also undermined by the performance of its ESG-managed funds, which lag behind the performance of non-ESG benchmarks while charging higher fees,” the letter said.
Additionally, the letter raises concerns about the independence of mutual fund directors at BlackRock and whether they can be directors on other corporations where BlackRock controls significant shares.
“From a conflict-of-interest perspective, there is a clear risk that service on a public company board creates a dynamic where the director will be hesitant to offend or anger BlackRock, when BlackRock manages, votes, and controls significant shares in that public company,” the letter says.
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In addition to Montana, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Utah all signed on to the letter.
&#8220;Thanks to persistent efforts from Republican attorneys general to defeat the radical and illegal ESG movement, BlackRock and other investment firms have rightly withdrawn from certain environmental organizations committed to a foundational transformation of America&#8217;s energy and financial sectors,&#8221; Utah AG Sean Reyes told The Daily Wire. &#8220;Our coalition, however, still has concerns with BlackRock&#8217;s past and present actions involving the financial interests of our constituents. We will remain steadfast in holding BlackRock and others like it accountable by protecting the financial freedom of our people.&#8221;
The Republicans previously wrote to BlackRock in July voicing many of the same concerns and received a reply in August. They said that August&#8217;s reply did not sufficiently answer their questions or concerns about ESG investing. Tennessee <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tennessee-attorney-general-sues-blackrock-for-misleading-investors-about-esg-agenda" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sued</a> BlackRock in December, saying that firm violated consumer protection laws by misleading consumers about its attempt to pursue left-wing social and environmental goals.

Blackrock Posts 22 Percent Increase In Quarterly Profits

EXCLUSIVE: Republican Officials Demand Answers On BlackRock’s ‘Woke’ Climate Agenda

BlackRock

Investors

Montana

Social Issues

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer <a href="https://www.wnem.com/2023/11/28/watch-live-whitmer-signs-michigan-jobs-michigan-energy-bill-package/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> Democrat-proposed energy bills Tuesday, giving the state some of the most rigid energy mandates in the nation.
The Democrats’ green energy plan — a package of three bills passed along party lines — requires utility providers to transition to completely carbon-free energy generation by the end of the next decade, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/michigan-democrats-clean-energy-301c639cc089fca26a746ad2f4baff3d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The mandate, which is even more fast-tracked than the green energy bill passed in <a href="https://www.energy.ca.gov/programs-and-topics/topics/renewable-energy/clean-energy-serving-california#:~:text=Senate%20Bill%20100%20(2018)%20set,zero%20carbon%20energy%20by%202045.">California</a>, will force utility companies to generate half of their energy through renewable sources by 2030, 60% by 2035, and 100% by 2040.
“With passage of these game-changing bills, Michigan will become a national leader on clean energy,” Whitmer said in a <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/news/press-releases/2023/11/08/governor-whitmer-statement-on-passage-of-clean-energy-legislation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> earlier this month. “These bills will help us make more clean, reliable energy right here in Michigan, creating tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, and lowering utility costs for every Michigander by an average of $145 a year.”
Still, some far-Left environmental activists were not completely happy with the legislation, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/whitmer-signs-clean-energy-package-make-michigan-carbon-free-2040-rcna126977" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criticizing</a> the mandate for allowing utility providers to use carbon capture technology and saying that it fails to “adequately reduce greenhouse gas emissions while bringing more pollution to Black, Brown, Indigenous and poor communities.”
Republicans in the state House and Senate on the other hand said the mandate would effectively ban natural gas and take control of hundreds of thousands of acres of land for renewable energy.
Michigan Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt told The Daily Wire in a phone interview that Michigan&#8217;s power outage problem, which is already <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/detroit/2023/09/05/michigan-power-outage-rates-double-the-national-average" target="_blank" rel="noopener">double</a> the national rate, would only get worse thanks to the Democrats&#8217; bill.
“This does nothing to correct the issues on the distribution system. All this does is increases the likelihood of power outages and decreases reliability,” said Nesbitt.
Nesbitt added that the law will also “industrialize” Michigan farmland, meaning that the law&#8217;s land requirement for renewable energy will “preempt” residents from having any say in how local land is used.
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“Currently, 50,000 acres are used for renewable energy. This will mandate that over 350,000 new acres of land will have to be pushed into renewable energy,” he said.
An <a href="https://www.mackinac.org/pressroom/2023/new-energy-bills-would-increase-costs-and-blackouts">analysis</a> from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy also found that the new green energy mandate will cost residents an extra $2,746 a year while giving them less reliable electricity. Republican House Floor Leader Bryan Posthumus told The Daily Wire, “Without a doubt, these mandates will lead to higher costs and lower reliability.”
&#8220;In government, you literally get what you pay for,&#8221; Posthumus added. &#8220;By mandating wind and solar, only the governor has taken many other necessary and useful options off the table to score points with the coastal elites. Michigan could have been the national leader in how to do renewable the right way. Instead, Whitmer chose the strong-arm approach with an eye on a 2028 presidential run. It really is truly disappointing.&#8221;
Many residents of Marquette Township, Michigan, which is in the state&#8217;s Upper Peninsula, voiced frustration with their Democratic Representative Jenn Hill after she joined Democrats in passing the energy mandate. After a meeting last week, Forsyth Township Supervisor Joe Boogren said questions were not being answered on the issue, TV6 <a href="https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/2023/11/20/tensions-high-townhall-about-energy-laws/">reported</a>.
“We can read. We’re not as dumb as you think we are or make us out to be, and we wanted to talk to you as elected officials to elected official and ask you questions that mean something, not go for this,” Boogren said.

Gretchen Whitmer

Gretchen Whitmer Signs One Of The Nation’s Most Extreme Green Energy Mandates

Democrats

Energy

Republicans

Two of the protesters who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/you-suck-eco-protesters-hold-up-us-open-match-glue-feet-to-the-floor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">held up a semi-final match</a> at the US Open on Thursday night as they protested against fossil fuels were hit with criminal charges. 
Gregory Schwedock, 35, of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-york-city" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York City</a>, and Sayak Mukhopadhyay, 50, of White Plains, New York, were charged with criminal trespass after the two were involved in an environmental protest that led to a 50 minute game delay at the US Open. Mukhopadhyay also faces a disorderly conduct charge. 
During the second set of the match between American Coco Gauff, 19, and Karolína Muchová, 27, from the Czech Republic, Schwedock, Mukhopadhya, and a woman stood up and started yelling “end fossil fuels.”
The New York City Police told Forbes that they responded to reports of attendants at the match acting “disorderly” and that one “had apparently glued his feet to the floor.”
“Personnel from the Emergency Service Unit responded and were able to safely free the male and take him into custody,” police <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/us-open-protesters-charged-criminal-trespass-disrupting-match-rcna104051" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. 
One of the protesters later claimed that the protest was raising awareness for an existential threat. 
“There is no tennis on a dead planet. There is no art on a dead planet, everything that we take for granted as our way of life will cease to exist,” Mukhopadhyay told NBC. 
Gauff had won the first set and was leading in the second 1-0 when play was halted; she ultimately won the match 6-4, 7-5. The crowd booed the protesters, and yelled at them as they were taken away by the New York City Police Department. “You suck!” and “F*** you!” people yelled. 
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While Gauff appeared frustrated during the match with the delay, she later said that she couldn’t be “upset” with the protesters 
“I always speak about preaching about what you feel and what you believe in,” Gauff said. “It was done in a peaceful way, so I can’t get too mad at it. Obviously I don’t want it to happen when I’m winning, up 6-4, 1-0, and I wanted the momentum to keep going. But hey, if that’s what they felt they needed to do to get their voices heard, I can’t really get upset at it.”
Extinction Rebellion, a radical environmentalist group, said that it was behind the protest. 
&#8220;Today’s action highlights the neglect of the climate and ecological breakdown by governments and corporations,&#8221; the group <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/2-people-arrested-criminal-trespass-us-open-protest-police-force-tournament-increased" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;The group emphasizes that the present socioeconomic system can&#8217;t protect people from the crises to come because its very structure creates these crises and then ignores them.&#8221;

2023 US Open – Day 11

Radical Environmental Protesters Who Delayed US Open Hit With Criminal Charges

New York

New York City

Protests

Tennis

US Open

Three environmental protesters, including one who glued his bare feet to the floor, <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-12494371/Coco-Gauffs-Open-semifinal-match-STOPPED-environmental-protestors-battles-Karolina-Muchova-reach-finals-Flushing.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">held up</a> a semi-final match at the US Open on Thursday night for roughly an hour as they yelled “end fossil fuels.”
The two men and one woman wore shirts emblazoned “end fossil fuels” and the logo of the extremist “Extinction Rebellion” group as they chanted during the second set of the match between American Coco Gauff, 19, and Karolína Muchová, 27, from the Czech Republic. Gauff had won the first set and was leading in the second 1-0 when play was halted; she ultimately won the match win 6-4, 7-5.
“We are not trying to harm the athletes in any way,” one of the protesters claimed later. “We have nothing against the sport, but we are really trying to draw attention to an issue here that there will be no tennis left for anybody in the world to enjoy.”
Gauff, frustrated by the protesters, asked officials why they were “negotiating” with them, snapping it was like it was a “hostage situation.” Brad Gilbert, her coach,  shouted to the umpire “This is a joke,” according to the Daily Mail. The crowd booed the protesters, and yelled at them as they were taken away by the New York Police Department, “You suck!” and “F*** you!” The crowd cheered the NYPD when they arrived.
“It was a bit challenging, because, you know, it&#8217;s not like a typical delay,” Gauff <a href="https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/38348965/protesters-force-50-minute-delay-gauff-muchova-us-open-semifinal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> after the match. “So we didn&#8217;t know how long it was going to take. We were talking to the supervisor and security. You know, they could say it could be as quick as five minutes or as long as an hour. It was tough to figure out if we stay warm or conserve energy. &#8230; But, you know, it&#8217;s life. It happens. So I just try my best to keep the momentum that I had going from winning the first set and the first game.”
“I always speak about preaching about what you feel and what you believe in,&#8221; Gauff continued. “It was done in a peaceful way, so I can&#8217;t get too mad at it. Obviously I don&#8217;t want it to happen when I&#8217;m winning, up 6-4, 1-0, and I wanted the momentum to keep going. But hey, if that&#8217;s what they felt they needed to do to get their voices heard, I can&#8217;t really get upset at it.”
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“I just wanted to get off the court and then keep myself little warmed up and not just to stand there,” Muchová commented.
“I had a feeling it was going to happen this tournament,” Gauff concluded. “It happened in the French Open, it happened in Wimbledon. So, you know, following the trend, it was definitely going to happen here. I just was hoping it wasn&#8217;t in my match, and honestly I thought we made it through. &#8230; But it is what it is. I think that, you know, the moments like this, yeah, are history-defining moments. Like I said, I prefer it not to happen in my match, but I wasn&#8217;t pissed at the protesters. I know the stadium was because it just interrupted entertainment.”

‘You Suck’: Eco-Protesters Hold Up US Open Match, Glue Feet To The Floor

Extinction Rebellion

Sports

Radical environmental activists disrupted a London “Pride” parade on Saturday, blocking the procession and spray painting a float sponsored by Coca-Cola, leading to several arrests. 
Just Stop Oil, a group associated with protests targeting famous works of art, took credit for the disruption, arguing that the organizers of the parade did not do enough to condemn new oil and gas leases. According to police, seven people <a href="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/just-stop-oil-launches-protest-124617109.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were arrested</a> on “public nuisance” charges. 
“Pride is a protest. But Pride in London allows destructive industries such as Coca-Cola, who are the world&#8217;s biggest plastic polluter and who have been accused of numerous human rights abuses, to co-opt it and pinkwash themselves,” Just Stop Oil <a href="https://twitter.com/JustStop_Oil/status/1675132305550065666" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Twitter. “The LGBTQ+ supporters of Just Stop Oil have taken action against Pride in London today, because the organisation is working with industries complicit in worsening the climate crisis.”
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🏳️‍🌈 BREAKING: JUST STOP OIL DISRUPTS PRIDE
🧯 LGBTQ+ supporters of Just Stop Oil have disrupted the Pride in London parade, blocking Coca-Cola&#39;s float and spraying black and pink paint over the road.
🧵 A thread on why we&#39;ve disrupted <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PrideInLondon?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PrideInLondon</a>: <a href="https://t.co/bGjudM9VUl">pic.twitter.com/bGjudM9VUl</a>
&mdash; Just Stop Oil (@JustStop_Oil) <a href="https://twitter.com/JustStop_Oil/status/1675129382828924935?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2023</a></blockquote>
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According to the U.K.-based group, the protesters who disrupted the parade identified as LGBT. They managed to bring the parade to a halt for about 15 minutes before they were removed from the street by police. 
“New oil and gas is a death sentence for millions of people, and the LGBTQ+ community will be one of the first to suffer,” Just Stop Oil said. 
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said prior to the parade that he supported peaceful and lawful protests. 
“I agree with protesting in a way that is lawful, safe, and peaceful. I think that Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil are really important pressure groups trying to put power on those who have power and influence,” <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/01/just-stop-oil-protesters-disrupt-london-pride-over-polluting-sponsors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he said,</a> according to The Guardian. “I am somebody who feels quite passionately that we have to tackle the climate emergency. And I feel quite passionately about encouraging people to join the movement to tackle the climate emergency.”
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Individuals affiliated with Just Stop Oil <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-global-warming-protesters-vandalize-one-of-worlds-most-iconic-art-masterpieces" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously threw tomato soup</a> at Vincent Van Gogh’s iconic “Sunflowers” painting at a London art museum in October. The painting, valued at nearly $85 million, was undamaged thanks to a glass covering. 
The two suspects behind the vandalism were identified by Just Stop Oil as Anna Holland, 20, and Phoebe Plummer, 21. They glued their hands to the museum wall after dousing the painting with two cans of Heinz tomato soup before London police officers arrested them for criminal damage and aggravated trespassing.

Pride In London 2023 – Parade

WATCH: Anti-Oil Group Disrupts Pride Parade Over Feud With LGBT Group

London

Pride

United Kingdom

Smoke from the massive Canadian wildfires rampaging through its provinces and territories has engulfed the East Coast of the United States, and environmentalists who have opposed sound forest management are being blamed by many for it.
Over a dozen states in the U.S. have been affected, with more than 100 million people living in areas where air quality alerts have been issued. Some opinions <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12169467/What-health-risks-wildfire-smog-blanketing-New-York-US.html">stated</a> that breathing in the smoke in New York City for 24 hours equated to smoking 22 cigarettes. Tuesday&#8217;s Major League Baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox was postponed due to the haze hanging over The Bronx.
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Check out this almost unbelievable time-lapse of wildfire smoke consuming the World Trade Center and the New York City skyline.
Those vulnerable to poor air quality, including seniors and young children, should limit time outdoors if possible.
More: <a href="https://t.co/ChRuWv7X6E">https://t.co/ChRuWv7X6E</a> <a href="https://t.co/mtKtLun8lN">pic.twitter.com/mtKtLun8lN</a>
&mdash; NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSNewYorkNY/status/1666517725865459713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2023</a></blockquote>
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BREAKING: Philadelphia now has the worst air quality in any major city in the world as smoke from wildfires in Canada is moving through the region. <a href="https://t.co/cjEL3Q5WXR">https://t.co/cjEL3Q5WXR</a>
&mdash; CBS Philadelphia (@CBSPhiladelphia) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSPhiladelphia/status/1666654895124905984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2023</a></blockquote>
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You can smell the smoke from wildfires burning in Quebec all the way in Windsor. Here’s a hazy look at the Detroit skyline. <a href="https://t.co/cu9W4zN3hc">pic.twitter.com/cu9W4zN3hc</a>
&mdash; Travis Fortnum (@travisfortnum) <a href="https://twitter.com/travisfortnum/status/1666222412638171136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Yet another day of poor air quality is anticipated today, primarily due to lingering wildfire smoke in the area. Those with chronic respiratory illnesses should limit their time outdoors. Visit <a href="https://t.co/N5S58sVQNn">https://t.co/N5S58sVQNn</a> for additional information. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ilwx?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ilwx</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/inwx?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#inwx</a> <a href="https://t.co/0AiUuWNeZG">pic.twitter.com/0AiUuWNeZG</a>
&mdash; NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSChicago/status/1665653754895663104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2023</a></blockquote>
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More than 400 wildfires are reportedly burning in Canada, where critics say bad forest management driven by misguided environmentalism has wreaked havoc.
“The situation in Canada is similar to that in Australia, where green ideology and chronic government underfunding mean that the forests currently ablaze have not been managed properly for years,” Miranda Devine noted in <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/06/07/smoky-new-york-isnt-climate-change-its-bad-forest-management/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Post</a>. “Instead of dead wood and undergrowth being removed regularly using low-intensity controlled or “prescribed” burns, forests have become overgrown tinderboxes.”
“High-intensity wildfires can be mitigated with PROACTIVE FOREST MANAGEMENT. People need to ask, are policies inhibiting this in Canada? What measures are in effect? “ Gabriella Hoffman of Townhall tweeted.
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High-intensity wildfires can be mitigated with PROACTIVE FOREST MANAGEMENT. People need to ask, are policies inhibiting this in Canada? What measures are in effect? 
Here at home, your administration is slow to act and you conveniently use climate boogeyman. <a href="https://t.co/6AQLdFo6pX">https://t.co/6AQLdFo6pX</a>
&mdash; Gabriella Hoffman (@Gabby_Hoffman) <a href="https://twitter.com/Gabby_Hoffman/status/1666553445409538049?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Jim Steele, an ecologist who served as director of San Francisco State University’s Sierra Nevada field campus, warned against those attributing the fires to climate change.
“I do not feel the media is educating us about the science that affects fires,&#8221; <a href="https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/05/25/climate-change-gets-blame-for-forest-fires-evidence-suggests-management-weather-patterns-have-more-impact/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he said</a>. They&#8217;re just trying to push a catastrophe narrative that&#8217;s been going on way too long.”
“Canada’s forests have not been in a natural state for a long time. Fire suppression has led to forests full of deadfall, which is basically kindling,” The Globe and Mail editorial board <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-canadas-massive-wildfires-are-the-result-of-decades-of-bad-decisions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> in July 2021. “Widespread wildfires have become too common, as a result of decades of decisions around fire suppression, logging and replanting, made worse by the punch of climate heating. Forest fires cannot be prevented. But tools are available to mitigate and contain the damage.”
As far back as 2016, Mark Heathcott, who coordinated controlled burns for Parks Canada for 23 years, <a href="https://macleans.ca/news/canada/prescribed-fires-save-money-and-lives-why-dont-we-do-more/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a>, “A lot of lip service is paid to it but very few agencies do it. People don’t understand the benefit of fire.”
Heathcott supervised controlled burns at Banff National Park, where his team would take months to assess a site. They would consult the local town, wait for prime moisture and wind conditions, then light a match or fuse or coordinate with a pilot for ignition capsules to be dropped, making the perimeter of an area burn inward. “These things aren’t slapdash plans,” Heathcott said. “Nobody ever wants to relinquish control of fire and have it burning willy-nilly on the landscape.”

Smoke From Canadian Wildfires Blows South Creating Hazy Conditions On Large Swath Of Eastern U.S.

Misguided Environmentalism Blamed For Canadian Wildfires Engulfing U.S. In Dangerous Smoky Haze

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