From the airport to a golf course, museum gala and private mansions, activists confronted the extreme wealth driving global warming, and the challenges facing grassroots organizations that stand up to billionaires.

By Keerti Gopal
August 5, 2023


Police officers saw the PVC pipe off Sophie Shepherd's arm that connected her with other demonstrators blocking access to the East Hampton Town Airport. Shepherd is an organizer with Planet Over Profit who said she was a "rule follower" before she started risking arrest in climate demonstrations. Credit: Keerti Gopal

Sophie Shepherd has always described herself as a “rule follower,” but days before her 22nd birthday, she chose to face arrest in the middle of a Long Island driveway. Under a blazing hot July sun, two police officers sawed through the PVC pipes that connected her arms to the 13 other protesters blocking the entrance to a private airport.

“What I love about direct action is you’re actually getting in people’s faces and disrupting their way of life,” Shepherd said. “That push is what’s necessary to change the temperature in the room.”

Last month, Shepherd and around forty other climate activists from New York City and Long Island descended on the East Hampton Town Airport to heat up the conversation on how the super rich drive global warming.

As police separated and arrested the demonstrators blocking the driveway, other activists in the group surrounded them carrying plastic pitchforks and posters that read “tax the rich.” Their bright red t-shirts read, “billionaires, what are you saving up for, hell?” above a graphic of cash burning. A five-year-old holding a pitchfork and a homemade poster started a chant: “stop private jets, stop funding oil!” Behind them, in the distance, sat a few rows of private planes and helicopters.

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