Climate activists turned Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey’s exclusive fundraiser on Nantucket Island into something of an unnatural disaster.
During the Saturday mingle at a private home, activist Matt Lyon interrupted the Democrat to demand that she shut down all new fossil-fuel projects in her state, and when she failed to give him a yes-or-no answer, the chanting began.
“End fossil fuels, Maura! End fossil fuels!” shouted the activists, as shown on a video posted by Climate Defiance.
A half-dozen activists stood in front of the crowd holding a white “End Fossil Fuels” banner, at which point they were confronted by the angry Democratic attendees.
“Get out!” shouted one woman.
“You’ve hurt your cause,” said a man, adding, “I’ve been a climate activist longer than you’ve been alive.”
Another attendee accused the activists of rudeness, prompting an activist to shout: “We’re going to die! Who cares if we’re rude?” He retorted: “I don’t mind if you die.”
Being accosted by left-wing activists is part of the job description if you’re a Republican — ask Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Rand Paul or Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
But what’s notable about Climate Defiance is that it singles out Democrats.
The newly formed “disruptive direct action” group lists as one of its missions: “Make clear to Democratic lawmakers that the youth vote will only deliver for them if they deliver for us.”
Recent Democratic targets include Vice President Kamala Harris, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and Mary Frances Repko, White House deputy climate advisor.
The group also blockaded in April the White House Correspondents Dinner.
Big update: We just swarmed a major fundraiser on Nantucket Island benefitting Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey. We demanded she ban new fossil fuel projects. She refused. So we shut down her whole event. She fled.
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) August 21, 2023
Respect us or expect us. pic.twitter.com/TVqasDJWIK
Climate Defiance is bankrolled by the Climate Emergency Fund, which funds radical climate groups such as Just Stop Oil, known for throwing cans of tomato soup last year on a Van Gogh painting in London.
The Climate Emergency Fund was co-founded by billionaire Aileen Getty, heir to the Getty oil fortune, and Kennedy family scion Rory Kennedy. The fund gave out $5.2 million in donations in 2022, according to its annual report.
Ms. Healey is hardly a climate skeptic — she sued ExxonMobil for “misleading” investors about climate change as attorney general in 2019.
But Mr. Lyon told her in the confrontation that she was “throwing away my future.”
The governor responded: “There’s a huge transition that we’re undergoing and there’s a lot of work to do,” which failed to appease the climate warriors.
As the activists left, one man told them, “You have absolutely no idea how to get things done.”
The group has since posted a video mocking the blindsided Healey supporters.
“We showed up to Mass. Governor Maura Healey’s swanky schmoozfest in Nantucket to ask if she’ll end fossil fuels,” said Climate Defiance on Instagram. “She deflected big time. So we shut that nonsense down.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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