Amsterdam, Netherlands – Marking the first 100 days of US President Donald Trump\u2019s second term, Greenpeace organisations around the world staged protests against the billionaire and corporate takeover of people\u2019s rights and freedom – from Trump\u2019s golf course in Scotland and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s yacht in the Arctic, to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the home of the US Constitution in Washington DC.<\/p>\n\n
Greenpeace USA, one of three Greenpeace entities targeted in the abusive $660million lawsuit by the fossil fuel pipeline company Energy Transfer, has unfurled a banner reading \u201cWe the People: Preserve, Protect, Defend\u201d in front of the US Constitution display at the National Archives.<\/p>\n\n
Dr. Folabi Olagbaju, Democracy Campaign Director, Greenpeace USA, said: <\/strong>\u201cGreenpeace\u2019s mission has always been to preserve, protect, and defend our just green world and today, that means defending the very document that makes this critical advocacy work possible. \u2018We the People\u2019 is a phrase that belongs to all of us\u2026 it is not owned by corporations, or billionaires, or politicians. As the constitutional rights to free speech and due process come under attack on university campuses, in major law firms, and even inside legacy journalism institutions, Greenpeace USA is making clear that our fight is not just about defending the environment and safeguarding climate: it\u2019s about defending democracy itself.<\/p>\n\n \u201cWe are here to remind this administration, and the nation, that constitutional rights belong to the people. Free speech, protest, and dissent are not negotiable. They are the foundation of any livable future, and we will resist any effort to erase them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n In the 100 Days, the president has not only left the Paris Climate agreement and offered Alaskan wilderness to oil drilling, he has also opened up pristine marine ecosystems in the Pacific to industrial fishing and wants to launch deep sea mining in US and International waters<\/a>. Moreover, he has ended investments in clean energy and instead boosted coal, oil and fossil gas by weakening regulations and removing obstacles for the fossil fuel industry.[1][2][3][4] <\/p>\n\n Greenpeace UK revealed a 55m by 40m artwork on the beach next to Trump\u2019s golf course in Scotland, \u2018Trump Turnberry\u2019, showing a giant portrait of the U.S. President raked into the sand with the message: \u201cTime to resist \u2013 fight the billionaire takeover\u201d.<\/p>\n\n Areeba Hamid, Co-Executive Director, Greenpeace UK said: <\/strong>\u201cDuring his first 100 days President Trump has been actively working to dismantle and weaken environmental protections and attack those who fight to protect nature and our shared climate, putting the corporate profits of his billionaire friends ahead of people and the planet. It\u2019s time to resist the billionaire takeover of our rights and freedoms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Greenpeace Nordic joined a protest in the harbour of the world’s most northern town, Longyearbyen in Svalbard, as Zuckerberg\u2019s US$ 300 million dollar yacht arrived.<\/p>\n\n Halvard Raavand,<\/strong> Deputy Program Manager, Greenpeace Norway said: <\/strong>\u201cTrump\u2019s biggest allies are a group of unelected billionaires, including the tech billionaires. This is not just about one luxury yacht. It’s about how powerful billionaires like Zuckerberg bend to and support Trump and undermine the climate fight – both through extreme consumption and by facilitating the spread of disinformation about climate.<\/p>\n\n Volunteers from Greenpeace Mexico gathered in Mexico City at the Plaza of the Three Cultures \u2014 a symbol of Mexico\u2019s pre-Hispanic, colonial, and modern history, as well as an emblem of resistance and social memory \u2014 to project the faces of those truly responsible for the climate crisis: the billionaires.<\/p>\n\n Activists have also been subvertising<\/em> bus stops around the US embassies around the world, including in England, the Netherlands, and Denmark, with posters carrying the same messaging: Time to resist: Fight the billionaire takeover.<\/p>\n\n ENDS<\/p>\n\n Photos and videos can be found in the Greenpeace Media Library<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n [1] Trump\u2019s under-the-radar Alaska order has environmentalists on edge<\/a><\/p>\n\n [2] Trump opens massive marine protected area to commercial fishing <\/a><\/p>\n\n [3] US government confirms their support for deep sea mining plans that bypass United Nations <\/a><\/p>\n\n