In protest against LNG export permits, Climate Defiance blocks unused entrance to DOE garage

Radical anti-fossil fuel activist group Climate Defiance on Thursday protested at Energy Department's Washington, D.C., headquarters, claiming to have “shuttered” the entrance. 

“Breaking: we have shuttered the entrance to the Department of Energy. Cops swarming by the 100. Senior officials on edge. Revolution in air. Updates imminent,” the group stated in a post on X. 

Andrew Follett, senior analyst at Club for Growth and former DOE contractor, said the group was actually blocking an unused entrance to a parking garage. 

“That’s the entrance to a closed parking garage you notwithstanding nitwit! The entrance is around the other side!” Follett said in a comment on Climate Defiance’s post.

It’s not clear that the protest was “shuttering” the agency as the group claims. The Department of Energy is one of the least-utilized federal headquarters in Washington, D.C. 

According to an announcement on Action Network, the "Blockade the Department of Energy" protest is aimed at getting President Joe Biden to ban all "fracked gas export applications." 

"Biden and the Department of Energy can reject pending permits for fracked gas export terminals RIGHT NOW – an action that would be hard for Trump to reverse. This could save the planet from billions of tons of carbon in the atmosphere," the announcement stated. 

Biden had paused approval of liquefied natural gas permits to countries without free trade agreements with the U.S. while a study, which is expected to be released this month, was completed. Trump can reverse the decision as easily as Biden enacted the moratorium. 

Reportedly, some of the protesters were arrested. 

“As we write over a dozen members of our group are being detained in a freezing police van. Our only “crime” was calling for an end to fossil fuels. Why is it not the oil barons who are getting carted off in handcuffs? Why?” the group stated in an update. 

Energy analyst David Blackmon, who publishes his work on his “Energy Absurdities” Substack, told Just the News that the group is grossly misrepresenting the impact of the protest. 

“They haven’t shut down anything, and the claim that police are swarming the area is hilarious. It’s just a bunch of privileged kids who no doubt grew up in privileged backgrounds and went to Ivy League schools getting some attention for themselves,” Blackmon said. 

According to Influence Watch, the bulk of the group’s funding comes from the Climate Emergency Fund, which funnels funding into a few hostile climate activist groups, including the Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil, and the Sunrise Movement. In 2021, the fund brought in over $6 million, its tax filings show.

In 2022, liberal Hollywood film director Adam McKay pledged $4 million to the Climate Emergency Fund, and he became a member of its board. Abigail Disney, heiress to the Disney fortune, donated $200,000 to the fund. Disney — a long-time Democratic party donor — demanded that Biden drop out of the presidential race, threatening to withhold campaign contributions unless Biden withdrew, according to CNBC.

“Past generations have failed us, and now it’s up to us to take swift action to avert climate disaster,” Disney told the Hollywood Reporter.

Left-wing icon Jane Fonda also lent her support to the group, speaking at the group's rally before a fundraiser for President Biden last year. "Now is the time for civil disobedience, right?" Fonda reportedly asked the crowd.

The group was recently criticized for a post laughing that an American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) staffer applied for a job at Climate Defiance. The group said the comment was posted “on a whim” while waiting for Ethiopian food.

“Non-AIPAC staff welcome to apply here. All positions pay $62,400. Willingness to make life miserable for people in power is a must,” the group said in a subsequent post.

As with former climate celebrity activist Greta Thunberg, Climate Defiance has united its climate causes with Gaza activism. Some commenters called the mocking statement anti-Semitic, conflating the group’s refusal to hire AIPAC staffers with a refusal to hire Jews. 

The group Stop Antisemitism replied “Hopefully, Ethiopian Jews weren’t serving you. Discrimination in the workplace is illegal in America. Good luck catching a case!” 

The group denied the accusation. 

“To conflate opposing AIPAC with antisemitism is itself – ironically – antisemitic, because it implies that to be Jewish or an ally of Jews necessitates support for or complicity in the murder of Palestinians. Game. Set. Match. Checkmate,” the group said.