A group of climate activists were forcibly removed from an event Monday in eastern Michigan where Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm spoke about the Biden administration’s green energy agenda.
Security officers were seen forcing several activists to leave the event — hosted by the Detroit Free Press in Birmingham, Michigan — as others chanted anti-fossil fuel slogans outside, according to video of the protest captured by videographer Brendan Gutenschwager. The protesters are associated with Climate Defiance, a radical left-wing group that calls for extreme measures to fight climate change.
“No MVP. No LNG. Granholm, you are killing me,” the protesters chanted at one point, a reference to Granholm’s support for the Mountain Valley Pipeline that is set to transport natural gas from West Virginia to southeastern states.
“Don’t let our futures burn,” the activists yelled moments later as two protesters were dragged from the event by three officers.
HILLARY CLINTON’S NONPROFIT PUSHED $300,000 TO GROUP FINANCING UNRULY CLIMATE PROTESTS
In remarks given after they were ejected from the event, the activists argued that Granholm’s words haven’t met her actions.
They said the energy secretary has hypocritically pushed more fossil fuel production despite saying she was in favor of climate action.
JOSH HAWLEY PRESSES BIDEN ENERGY SECRETARY OVER FALSE TESTIMONY ABOUT STOCK PURCHASES
“Something that I hate is when what people say doesn’t match what they do,” one of the protesters said. “That’s what Granholm’s doing. She’s saying she’s going to help the climate, she’s going to have all these innovative solutions. Then, she claims that somehow drilling for more fossil fuels will get us to renewable energy. That’s just not how it works.”
“Granholm has made her decision pretty clear. She has chosen the fossil fuel corporations and money over young people and over the people of Michigan. She has chosen money and destruction over land and water, over our lives,” another added. “She is not with Michiganders and she’s not with us.”
In a social media post last week, Climate Defiance said its members would “converge upon” Granholm’s speech Monday in an attempt to blockade it, promising to make climate change “impossible to ignore.”
While Granholm has repeatedly pushed green energy measures to curb greenhouse gas emissions, she infuriated climate activists when she signaled support for the Mountain Valley Pipeline which was later included in the recent debt ceiling package signed by President Biden.
Granholm wrote in a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that the 303-mile pipeline would ensure “reliability of the electric system.”
However, she appeared unfazed following the protest Monday, saying the U.S. was moving closer to a net-zero future.
“Michiganders know what our country can accomplish when we leverage our ingenuity and that’s why this state is driving America closer to our net-zero future,” Granholm tweeted after the event. “Had a great chat with [journalist Carol Cain] about how [President Biden’s] Investing in America agenda is growing our clean energy economy.”
