Our "Early Summer" fundraiser began this past Friday, July 4th, and will end this coming Sunday at 11:59 pm. Please help Climate First! with its campaigning, office rent, travel costs, among other things, by giving generously during its ten day fundraiser. 

And why should you donate to Climate First!? Please read the following to see how far the climate and pro-democracy movements have come since the Trump administration came into power this past January.

Since his inauguration on January 20, 2025, President Trump has been running his administration with authoritarian-leaning tendencies. Even more alarming, he has shown Americans that he's not adverse to his administration engaging in unethical and even illegal actions to accomplish its goals. And when one throws into the mix, his complete disregard from day one of his second term for any law, regulation, federal agency, research, or whatever, related to addressing the climate crisis, activists with Climate First! and many other climate groups have, at times, felt hopeless.

However, things began to turn around on April 1, 2025 when U.S. Senator Cory Booker finished his record-breaking 25 hour, 5 minute speech on the Senate floor, a talk that highlighted the harmful and lawless conduct of the current administration. Then just a few days later, nearly 1,300 nation-wide (and beyond) "Hands Off" protests loudly called out Trump and his loyalist's unprecedented attacks against immigrants, federal workers, and others in the country. Those two events seemed to be the tipping point for many Americans, as now, opponents of the administration's agenda had some organizational wherewithal to push back at those demolishing the federal government, including its critical climate and environmental protections and resources.       

 Image: A Hands Off! Rally in Wash., D.C. on 4-5-25.

                                                Image: Ditto; photo by AMID FARAHIAFP via Getty Images.jpg.

Numerous nonprofits, unions, foundations, law firms, and other organizations have joined together to stymie Trump's dangerous efforts to remake our federal government and Democracy. Organizations such as Indivisible, MoveOn, Our Revolution, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Stop the Money Pipeline, 50501, and many other groups have helped organize the opposition that has begun to rise up against the current administration over the last few months.  

The most recent nationwide event against the President, the "No Kings" mass protest on June 14th, was a collection of more than 2000 rallies across the country that was protesting “authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics, and the militarization of our democracy.” This Climate First! supporter attended a No Kings event in Cape Cod. Despite the rain, there were probably over 300 people attending the protest. 

                                                   Image: "No Kings" rally at the village green in Falmouth, MA; 6-14-25.

                                                                                                                Image: Climate First! attended the protest
                                                                                                                while being on vacation in Cape Cod; 6-14-25.

Some may wonder--why would Climate First!, which tries to protect the climate, attend an event protesting Trump's authoritarianism excesses? Well, we believe that the US will never be able to address the climate crisis, in time, if we let the administration continue to weaken our democracy. And President Trump's outrageous actions, many of which are dismantling climate protection, seem to be proving that belief.   

Going forward, Climate First! will continue to fight the anti-democractic actions of our current administration, and, of course, its senseless weakening of climate protections. In addition, we have decided to work more at the state level to get polluters pay legislation passed. Polluters pay legislation is based on the Superfund principle, where those who pollute the environment are legally required to cleanup their mess. The movement to pass such legislation is growing, with Vermont and New York State having already passed this critical legislation. 

After participating in the inaugural Summer of Heat on Wall Street campaign in 2024, where thousands of people took part in the largest campaign of civil disobedience targeting fossil-fuel financiers--mostly Citibank--in US history. Climate First! will continue this effective work in 2025.

In the Summer of Heat 2025 campaign, organizers will continue to run actions against Citibank--the second largest investor in climate-wrecking fossil fuels since 2021. However, the campaign will mainly focus on Wells Fargo bank due to the lender recently dropping its net zero climate pollution targets.  

In close, our "Early Summer" fundraiser continues until EOD this coming Sunday. Since Climate First! will likely be busier than ever taking on new climate work, we hope that you can make a financial gift. If you have questions or concerns, contact us at [email protected].