Three oil scions from America have been funding eco-terrorist groups who have scared the globe by cutting tyres, obstructing traffic, and destroying businesses.
In an apparent effort to lessen the legacy left by their kin, Aileen Getty, Rebecca Rockefeller Lambert, and Peter Gill Case—heirs to enormous riches from their families—are funding thugs’ wages via their non-profit organisations.
Through her California-based Climate Emergency Fund, which she established after her grandfather founded Getty Oil, Getty has already spent $1 million.
The Equation Campaign has received $30 million from Lambert and Case, who are both descended from the Rockefeller family that started Standard Oil in 1870.
They have also invested money into the organisations themselves and hired eco-activists from organisations like Just Stop Oil for around $25,000.
It happens at a time when eco-warriors have been causing trouble all over the globe lately, notably in the US, Europe, the UK, and Australia.
In addition to iconic oil paintings being targeted throughout the EU, SUV vehicle tyres have also been vandalised in the US, UK, and Australia.
Meanwhile, several significant cities across the world have seen massive rallies with thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets.
Getty admitted to the New York Times that she believed the activists she was funding were successful and that she had already contributed $1 million of her personal money to the Climate Emergency Fund.
Although their devastation was small in comparison to the issues at hand, she said that the civil disobedience of the grassroots groups was merely intended to sound an alarm.
Let’s not forget that we’re talking about extinction, she said, according to the newspaper.
Don’t we have a duty to use all available methods to attempt to safeguard life on Earth?
The Climate Emergency Fund, which was established three years ago, thinks that creating problems for millions of people is a vital method to spread its message.
Executive director Margaret Salamon likens it to historical suffragists, civil rights, and gay rights campaigners who have spent slightly over $7 million on issues they believe in.
“Action influences public opinion, what the media reports, and the boundaries of what is politically feasible,” she added.
The regular systems have fallen short. It’s time for everyone to understand that we must tackle this.
She refuted the notion that her organisation was contributing to global suffering by pointing out that Martin Luther King, Jr. had a low level of support prior to his assassination.
Additionally, Save Old Growth, a Canadian organisation that barricades roads used by loggers in British Columbia, received $170,000 from the Climate Emergency Fund.
We don’t want to be well-known, according to co-founder Zain Haq. Historically, civil disobedience has been about opposing a way of life.
In the meanwhile, the eco-fanatics from Just Stop Oil in Britain received over $1 million in funding as well as assistance with paying 40 protesters and organisers.
One of the group members, Miranda Whelehan, stated: “Obviously, volunteers can only do so much.” Millions, if not billions, are owned by large oil companies.
Scientist Rebellion, which boasts NASA climate scientist Peter Kalmus among its ranks, received a $100,000 donation from the Climate Emergency Fund in the US to cover consultant salaries and travel expenses.
After 16 years of searching, he said, he had come to the conclusion that the greatest way to rescue the world was to wreck havoc on regular people.
He participated in a group of around 1,000 scientists from 25 different nations who were chained to the White House gates and blocked traffic.
Following the assault, Kalmus stated: “I get letters from individuals every day who say it has given them hope.”
Over anything else, it appeared to convey that urgency.
Lambert and Case have been funding The Equation Campaign, which was established in 2020 to provide financial support and legal counsel to people attempting to halt the growth of fossil fuels, in the meanwhile.
The money has assisted people who have attached themselves to banks, stuck themselves to artworks, and pounded through petrol pumps.
The two Rockefeller family members invested around $30 million, each of them hoping to make up for alleged family wrongs.
It’s time to seal the genie back inside the bottle, Case said in an email to the New York Times. I feel compelled to do my role morally. Would you not?
With the Keystone XL oil pipeline extension being cancelled, the Equation Campaign has had some success in slowing down the growth of the oil and gas industry.
Additionally, it works to oppose other fossil fuel projects and supports environmental activists who have been the victim of what it alleges are inflated accusations and bogus detentions.
According to Executive Director Katie Redford, “We need them to win in order to stop the industry from continuing to manufacture things that release greenhouse gases into the environment and to truly win for mankind.”
The Equation Campaign and Climate Emergency Fund emphasised that their organisations solely support legal activities such as recruiting, training, and education.
They further refuted the argument that paying the activists made their work less real by arguing that receipts were required to prove no criminal activity had taken place.
The eco-warriors claim that money is vitally required, and others have given up their education or are working several jobs in order to devote their lives to protesting.
The most recent protest to occur in the US occurred last week when protesters clashed with police at the Congressional baseball game in Washington, DC. They were eventually pulled to the ground and hauled out of the stadium.
A few of the protesters were able to enter Nationals Park stadium and display banners.
While the game between Republican and Democratic politicians was taking place outside, three persons were taken into custody.
One individual attempted to charge the police, but was met with force and slammed to the ground.
Another group of protesters attempted to enter the area, but a large security guard shooed them away while grinning.
One of them fell backwards as the Metropolitan Police officer pushed him hard as they attempted to move by.
He was encircled by police who led him away as he continued to attempt to approach the area.
While one activist stood nearby with zip ties around his wrists, another activist was observed being taken away from the scene by her arms and legs.
A group named Now Or Never claimed responsibility for organising the protest.
They tweeted, “Tonight we converged on the Congressional Baseball Game.”
We are now experiencing a climate emergency. It’s ablaze in Yosemite. New York City-sized ice shelf just broke off of Antarctica. Pollution is killing us at a million each year.
Congress must complete the transaction. It is now. Baseball, they continued, “can wait. The environment cannot.
The organisation demanded that Congress invest billions on sustainable energy and that Joe Biden proclaim a “climate emergency.”
A representative for the organisation, Michael Steffes, stated, “We are very insulted that our elected authorities continue to play games in the face of our coming destiny.”
“While the world burns around them, our congresspeople choose to play nice.”
We are destined for climate hell unless they acknowledge this as a global emergency and take quick climate action.
The organisation said that politicians were “spending the world’s time with their unjustifiable shenanigans” and that there was enough proof of the problem’s scope.
They claimed that the country’s capacity to deal with the growing number of people whose lives have been upended by the crisis was being stretched.
“St Louis is underwater, California is on fire, Lake Mead is running dry, the country’s glaciers are melting, and drought is hammering the midwest,” they said.
The only occasion they can agree on is to engage in a literal game.
The United States government is condemning billions of people to an unlivable future on a dead planet unless it takes fast and strong climate action.