Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has had such a disastrous tenure in Biden’s cabinet that he’s all but killed his chances of being a presidential contender one day. Between his decision to take paternity leave during the supply-chain crisis, call bridges and highways racially biased, and his frequent personal trips, he seems to only garner attention for bad reasons. And then there’s the Southwest Airlines fiasco, the FAA outage, the Chinese spy balloon, and the environmental crisis in East Palestine, Ohio that resulted in his job performance being criticized by both Republicans and Democrats.
Well, now he can add another embarrassment to his resumé. While speaking at an environmental policy forum, where he was tasked with touting the administration’s efforts to boost electric vehicles, his time on stage was cut short by some wacko environmental protestors calling him “Petro Pete” and accusing him of not doing enough to combat climate change.
the Find Out stage pic.twitter.com/l4n6zGPmd4
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) October 12, 2023
“Your DOT just approved the Seaport Oil Terminal, a project that will have 80 coal plants worth of greenhouse gas emissions and will worsen air quality in areas that already live in cancer clusters,” one of the activists shouted at Buttigieg. “This is about environmental racism and it’s about climate impacts this project will have. Will you commit to stopping these projects?”
The only thing more amusing than a bunch of virtue-signaling white climate activists bemoaning “environmental racism was Buttigieg’s attempt to respond to the protestors. He clearly had trouble not being able to rely on a script, before conceding, “So, I don’t want to say anything off the cuff.”
Breaking: we just chased Secretary Pete Buttigieg off the stage at the Meyerhoff Symphony.
Petro Pete is a coward. As we write he is ramming down our throats the Sea Port and GulfLink oil terminals – each worse than Keystone.
We must resist him with all we've got. And we will. pic.twitter.com/aVKeCre5eH
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) October 10, 2023
“We lack money and formal decision-making powers but we can exert real influence by *decimating* reputations,” the group said in a long thread on X/Twitter. “We do not relish doing so but we will use that power when we must. Relatedly there are now over half a million people who have seen our new nickname for the Secretary, Petro Pete. The action worked *exactly* as intended. Direct action is the fastest and most efficient way to spur change. 30 of us took over Pete’s speech and it made a bigger impression than 1000s signing petitions or protesting on a sidewalk would have.”
The group explained that their goal is to “make climate a top-3 issue in American politics” and that “the fastest way to do so is through disruptive action. “
Join the conversation as a VIP Member