An email blast from environmental justice advocates reportedly disrupted emails between White House officials for two days in August.
Politico reported on Tuesday that the blast from advocates resulted in more than 5,600 messages that disrupted email communications for White House officials including national climate adviser Gina McCarthy, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and David Kieve, who’s in charge of reaching out to environmental groups.
The emails were reportedly from environmental groups with the Stop the Money Pipeline coalition. According to Politico, they were sent to pressure the administration to issue an executive order to protect financial systems from climate-related issues.
The news outlet cited two anonymous sources as well as Erika Thi Patterson, campaign director with the Action Center on Race and the Economy, who told the news outlet that Kieve informed her of the disruption.
She told the news outlet that the call was aggressive.
“It’s really outrageous,” Patterson said of the Aug. 19 call, according to Politico. “With all the crises our communities are facing right now, that all this energy and aggression was focused on receiving emails.”
A White House spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment from The Hill.
A White House official told Politico that the groups that sent the blast were invited to meet with senior members of the White House Council on Environmental Quality over the interaction, but the groups declined.
The administration has garnered some support from environmental advocates for pushes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including through congressional action.
But the administration and advocacy groups also have their differences. Environmental justice advocates have criticized the administration’s support for using technology to capture carbon emissions from fossil fuels. There have also been some tensions over pipelines.