Climate activists disrupted an event at Harvard University featuring Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), with the lawmaker standing up to confront a protester who called him a “sick fuck,” according to a video of the encounter posted online by the environmental group Climate Defiance.
The protester, who was then shoved off his feet and through a doorway by an apparent member of Manchin’s security detail, was joined in the room by several others who took issue with how Manchin facilitated the ongoing construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
The natural gas pipeline, first proposed in 2014, is expected to run through Manchin’s home state and into southern Virginia, cutting through the Appalachian Trail. Several environmental groups, including the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the Natural Resources Defense Council, have opposed it, citing the potential for soil erosion, landslides, gas leaks and lessened water quality, as well as general scenic damage and the effect of fossil fuels on climate change, among other reasons.
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Last June, the pipeline cleared regulatory obstacles and lawsuits seeking to stop its construction after it was included in a debt ceiling agreement that Congress approved and which President Joe Biden signed. Manchin celebrated the occasion in a statement. “For more than nine months, I have worked tirelessly to build consensus and garner the support necessary to complete MVP,” he said, adding that it would “create more than 2,500 jobs, generate $50 million in tax revenue and more than $175 million in royalties for West Virginia landowners.”
Manchin may be the latest target of Climate Defiance’s protests, but he’s not the first. Last month, the group confronted the CEO of Bank of America during a “fireside chat” on the economy at a swanky Massachusetts country club, according to Rolling Stone. That came days after Biden reportedly delayed approving what would be the country’s largest natural gas export terminal—something the group sees as a win.
Climate Defiance activists similarly disrupted speeches by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell late last year.
As for the group’s tactics, 30-year-old executive director Michael Greenberg told Rolling Stone: “We’re not just trying to have moving, heartfelt conversations with people in power. What we really want to do is shake society awake.”
Manchin, who said last year that he’s not running for re-election, had flirted with a third-party presidential run until announcing in February that he would not launch a White House campaign.
