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Leftist protester disrupts Climate Week event by ranting against US military
By Louis Casiano
Published September 25, 2026
A member of Code Pink, the far-left group known for confronting elected officials, disrupted a Climate Week event in New York City Thursday, blaming the U.S. military for its perceived role in the climate crisis.
The disruption targeted an event hosted by The Nature Conservancy, which the group claims refuses to address the U.S. military’s "massive carbon footprint and massive environmental degradation from U.S. military bases and U.S.-driven wars and occupations."
"There is an elephant in the room that The Nature Conservancy does not want to address," said a man identified by Code Pink only as Aaron, the campaign organizer for the group's War Is Not Green initiative. "It is destroying ecosystems. It is destroying fish. It is destroying the world."
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Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin (left) and activist Tighe Barry protest during the Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing for Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Jan. 14, 2025. On Thursday, the group protested at The Nature Conservancy in New York City, demanding the group acknowledge the U.S. military's role in the climate crisis. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
He also pointed to the Pentagon’s $1.5 trillion budget and the U.S. military’s role in environmental destruction, asking why The Nature Conservancy, with a budget of over $2 billion and a mission dedicated to protecting land and water, refuses to address it, the group said.
Code Pink said it was present at NYC Climate Week to insist that any serious climate conversation must include the military-industrial complex, which it argued contributes significantly to global warming.
CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin holds a poster from a campaign the nonprofit started called China Is Not Our Enemy. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Code Pink demanded that The Nature Conservancy and other environmental groups "publicly acknowledge the U.S. military as a leading institutional polluter," "refuse partnerships or funding tied to the military-industrial complex" and "use their platforms to demand cuts to the Pentagon budget and an end to wars that devastate ecosystems."
"You cannot claim to protect the land and waters while ignoring the largest institutional polluter on Earth," Aaron explained after the disruption. "The Nature Conservancy has a $2 billion budget and a global platform. It has a responsibility to name the war machine as a driver of climate destruction. Silence is complicity."
Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin speaks to the media after being removed from the White House Correspondents Dinner April 25, 2026, in Washington. (Allison Robbert/AP Photo)
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Fox News Digital has reached out to The Nature Conservancy.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/leftist-protester-disrupts-climate-week-event-ranting-against-us-military