Local Voices of Resistance as A Nation Rises Against Presidential Overreach

A powerful wave of peaceful resistance swept across America on June 14, 2025, as over 5 million citizens gathered in 2,100 cities and towns for No Kings Day. From small coastal communities like Wallala to major metropolitan centers, Americans of all ages exercised their First Amendment rights to voice opposition against what many view as presidential overreach and environmental devastation.

The current administration's systematic dismantling of critical environmental agencies stands at the heart of many protesters' concerns. We explore how the gutting of scientific expertise at the EPA and NOAA threatens decades of environmental progress and our ability to address pressing challenges like climate change. When federal authorities released water from California dams without understanding the state's water systems, it highlighted a dangerous pattern of uninformed intervention that wastes precious resources and undermines state authority.

Through intimate conversations with local participants Wendy White and Sandy Wright, we discover the deeply personal motivations driving ordinary citizens to stand up for democracy and environmental protection. Their perspectives reveal how political decisions have real-world impacts on communities, from agricultural workers facing aggressive immigration raids to educators struggling to teach environmental stewardship while the government models the opposite.

Beyond documenting the protests, we examine concerning legislation currently moving through Congress that threatens marine sanctuaries, and we analyze the manipulation tactics being deployed to distract and divide Americans. By recognizing patterns of gaslighting, fear-mongering, and misinformation, we can better equip ourselves to protect

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Resilient Earth Podcast
• 1:40 No Kings Day: A Different Episode
• 4:10 Environmental Impacts of the Administration
• 10:14 Conversation with Wendy and Sandy
• 18:00 The Peaceful Truth Behind the Protests
• 35:50 Media Coverage and Local Impact
• 42:30 Legislative Threats to Marine Sanctuaries
• 48:00 Taking Action Against Manipulation

Transcript

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 0:10

Welcome to the Resilient Earth Podcast, where we talk with speakers from the United States and around the world about the critical issues facing our planet and the positive actions people are taking, from the tiniest of actions to the grandest of gestures, so that we can continue to thrive and survive for generations to come. Leigh Anne Lindsey, producer and host, along with co-hosts and co-producers Scott and Tree Mercer of Mendonoma Whale and Seal Study, located on the South Mendocino and North Sonoma coasts. The music for this podcast is by Eric Allaman, an international composer, pianist and writer living in the Sea Ranch. Discover more of his music, animations, ballet, stage and film work at ericalamancom. You can find Resilient Earth on Spotify, apple and Amazon Podcasts, iheart Radio, YouTube, Soundcloud and wherever you find your podcasts.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 1:40

This week's episode of Resilient Earth Radio and Podcast is going to be different from past episodes, as we take a look at the local and national turnout that happened during no King's Day, june 14th 2025, why it happened and why that is important for our discussions on the environment. This planet is extremely interconnected through nature, the oceans and atmosphere. What happens in one location has the ability to affect the entire planet. For example, the waste management practice of industrial nations, as we've learned, produces plastics and debris that washes up on beaches everywhere. Oil and chemical spills spread far and wide in the ocean. There's also rising noise levels in our oceans from shipping to military activities, offshore drilling and mining. That could also be increasing soon, and definitely a big push by companies around the world that are heavily funded to go after deep sea mining. We'll be talking about that issue actually in next week's episode with our scientific expert on noises in the ocean human generated noises in the ocean, specifically-generated noises in the ocean specifically and that's Michael Stocker, founder of the Ocean Conservation Research, located in Marin County, and then you'll be hearing that episode next week.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 3:14

Now back to this nationwide no King's Day protest that happened all across the United States back on June 14th. This was peaceful and I will say it again, if even a lot of the media does not focus on this, this peaceful turnout in cities, large and small, was the right to voice opposition against political actions that the people I'm talking about, the majority of the people in this country do not support. There were over 5 million people that turned out to make their voices heard that day, and this is an inalienable right that the US Constitution allows citizens to do. The First Amendment guarantees the right to freedom of speech and assembly, and that is exactly what peaceful protesters did all over this country, including me, the producer and host of this podcast and radio show, leanne Lindsay, and my podcast collaborators, scott and Tree Mercer. We are concerned about the chaotic, disruptive and destructive actions that this current administration has taken with, specifically out of all the other disruptive activities that they've got going on, specifically with our environmental agencies, like the EPA rolling back protections for us that we worked hard over the years to achieve and NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They are responsible for not only studying climate, but all the weather patterns that are affecting our country. They provide this information to pilots that fly our commercial airlines. They provide it to the Coast Guard. Well, along with the scientific and educational programs in this country and educational programs in this country, their budgets were not only cut and clawed back, but they gutted. They gutted the agencies of the top scientists and put in inexperienced yes people. This is not the way to run these organizations. We believe and it's our right to say so. We believe and it's our right to say so. And while this administration may think that eliminating the phrase climate change on governmental websites and replacing these top scientists with yes, people, then their heads are filled with wishful thinking and stuck in that proverbial sand. And this is my opinion. This is my ability to say so through this podcast. This is my show, along with Scott and Tree Mercer, resilient Earth Radio and Podcast.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 6:14

Today you'll hear a conversation that I decided to have with my neighbors here in Sea Ranch. They had family that came up during this weekend of the protests. It was my neighbor's niece, Wendy White, and her partner, Sandy Wright a few days after No King's Day. It all started when I met them the same day of the event, when we all stopped for pet food at the local pet store and I said you know what? I'd like to get some input about the local flavor here, going down also to the San Francisco Bay Area, which is just south of us, where a lot of us up here are from. As a matter of fact, I wanted to get this input from them. Coming up in just a few minutes, you're going to hear from them and my conversation with them. Coming up in just a few minutes, you're going to hear from them and my conversation with them. They came here to attend again the no King's Day protests Gualala and and Point Arena from the Bay Area where they live in Fairfield, because Wendy's family has been visiting and living in this area for the past 40 years. Wendy is the founder of TRYBE Creative, which specializes in food and wine with clients in several North San Francisco Bay counties like Napa, marin and Sonoma. Sandy is a former English teacher and theater actor. They were married a few years ago and have been together almost 30 years.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 7:41

At one point when Wendy's commenting in this conversation about the insertion of uneducated federal decision-making, that actually happened this past February, right as the Los Angeles fires were happening. It was a decision to, they thought, help fight wildfires. They bypassed and I'm saying Trump and his administration, bypassed those who govern and manage the state. They made a ridiculous blunder when they decided to release large amounts of water from the Terminus and Schaefer dams in California's Central Valley, which, if you know anything about that water system, it does not even connect with the Southern California water system. So here they thought oh, we'll just do this and make this sweeping decision and get it done Again.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 8:37

The water from the Terminus and Schaefer Dams in California's Central Valley is primarily used for irrigation in the Central Valley. It doesn't flow south to SoCal. What a waste. A waste because the water was released during the winter, when fields are dormant and the irrigation needs were low, and it depleted valuable water reserves that could have been used for agriculture during the drier summer months. There was simply no coordination by this administration with state and local water managers. They didn't consider the flood risks, even for downstream communities. This was all politically motivated. This really was politically motivated, and that water release was primarily a political stunt intended to demonstrate presidential authority over California's water resources. What a lost opportunity for the environment. Again, these were valuable water resources that could have been used for groundwater recharge and other environmental purposes. Overall, the February 2025 water release by the federal government from the Central Valley Dams was an extremely poor decision, with potentially negative consequences for water resources and agricultural interests in the region.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 10:01

We talk about that, but we also talk about other irresponsible and damaging decisions and policies this administration is taking and has taken, and why we all decided to get out and protest that day. But again let me stress, we all protested peacefully. It was not this big scene down in Los Angeles. This was not what was being portrayed in most media After that day.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 10:34

If you look at most of the content online and I'm showing in the visual version of this podcast photos, images and videos from around the country and here locally, showing that it was all very peaceful and if you can see the age of the people in these photographs and videos, most of us are in our 60s, 70s and 80s. There's even a woman in her 90s in her walker that has a sign on it that says I'm 95, and I'm still doing this stuff. I'm still coming out to protest. We all felt it important to participate in that nationwide event that compelled in that nationwide event that compelled again over 5 million people to get involved On June 14th 2025, even people in US territories and Americans from around the world. I will reiterate again, because the media hasn't done the best job with following through on coverage that shows peaceful protests everywhere. Before we get into our show, I just had to play this Instagram post with actor and activist Mark Ruffalo, who is speaking to a reporter in New York City.

Sandy Wright: 11:55

Why does this matter? Why are people out here getting soaked in the rain to send a message?

Mark Ruffalo: 12:01

Because we see our democracies in real trouble. We see a president who has made himself a king and dictator and we don't see an opposition that's powerful enough to stand up against the trampling of our rights and the trampling of the Constitution that's happening every single day with executive orders, with the refusal to obey court orders, kidnapping of immigrants, people who are here legally, people who their children are being taken from them. We're disgusted and we're scared and we know that the only way to fight this now is for the people is to come together. When a US senator is tackled in a press conference representing his constituency with a question to the homeland security who has invaded that state with a military presence, you know you're heading towards dictatorship.

Mark Ruffalo: 12:59

That's a turning point. You're only going to see more of that happen. That's a turning point. You're only going to see more of that happen. This administration will continue to overreach and this will be the response. We're not going away, we're not going to be quiet. We love each other and we realize that we love this country so much that we're leaving our homes today in the rain to express our friendship and love for the people here who made this place.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 13:34

And this ability to get out on this day is our constitutional right, and bringing it down to the community level is why I decided, while in the pet store that day, when we all showed up together, I asked them to have a conversation with me about their perspective on that day on the local level, from here on our remote coast down to the San Francisco Bay Area just south of us. And now we're going to join this conversation in progress that I had with Wendy White, who is the niece of my neighbor right across the street from me here in Sea Ranch, laura Riddell, and also Wendy's partner, sandy Wright. I'm Leanne Lindsay. Thanks for listening to Resilient Earth Radio.

Wendy White: 14:28

We thought long and hard about how and where we were going to participate in no King's Day and we really felt like Sea Ranch and Malala would be a wonderful place for us to show our support. We weren't sure exactly what to expect and I have to say I was very proud to be there. It was an extraordinary turnout and I think that we were around a very large group of smart, like-minded people who really wanted to have a safe space to show their support. I was very impressed. I was very impressed.

Sandy Wright: 15:07

The turnout was amazing for such a small place Gualala and and I think the average age was mine 65. Well, I turned 68, but I think the average age was about 65 because there were a lot of young people there too, you know, wanting to show their support but also to protest the policies and actions that are happening right now with our current president and administration. Just to be honest, you know we don't agree with a lot of the policies, but it was really fun. We had a great weekend. We broke out in song at one point singing America the Beautiful and Flying the Flags, because of course, they do this every year to celebrate Flag Day. So it just happened to be on Flag Day that we did all of this.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 15:57

The important part is that this was peaceful. Most every place was a peaceful turnout, yes, and the numbers were staggering too in so many ways, especially for, like you both said, for this remote area up here it's a small community and I spoke with one of the organizers, Michael Thomas, and he said that probably because they were listed on the no Kings organization's website a turnout of over 500. Now, 500 for our little area is big.

Wendy White: 16:33

Wow, that's amazing, that might be half.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 16:37

Yeah, and that was right here in Gualala. Then we also had another one in Point Arena Right, and that also was well attended. And what concerns me the most is how media tends to be hyper-focused on the agitators, right. I really wanted people everywhere to understand, not only here in this country country, but the other countries where this podcast is listened to, in over 65 countries where they can hear from us, the people, that this is not like that in general, I mean, and in general it was an older crowd that turned out, yeah, yeah, and there were comments on Facebook that I saw that said don't get a job. But you know what? Most are retired or, you know, semi-retired. And I saw one chair with a woman who was sitting there and said can't believe it, I'm 95. I still have to come out and do this.

Wendy White: 17:44

Exactly you do, you do, you do and that I think Sandy and I we likened it to the need when we marched for the Women's March and we participated in Oakland, and it was just that extraordinary camaraderie that you felt with the group. And I'm not typically one who goes out and speaks my mind I usually will do it in the privacy of my friends and family but this was really important and I was so happy that we chose to do it. And just afterwards, like the next day, going through and seeing nationwide the outpouring of people in every city, every city, it was amazing.

Sandy Wright: 18:30

Mostly in support of the whole immigration rates and just the way they were handled. Some of these workers have been with their farms that they tend for, you know, 30 plus years and families before them, and really Mexico and California are buddies, you know. So we hated to see the treatment of these people, especially what the current events in Los Angeles, which was just really a coincidence that that all kind of happened at the same time and from an agricultural standpoint.

Wendy White: 19:03

I mean, we're right next to Napa, my clients are wine and beverage clients, and so there are generations and generations and generations of history of agricultural talent that are working in all facets of this industry. Facets of this industry and just I mean, we have been witnessing it at such vicious levels and it is tearing apart families, it's tearing apart communities and this was just something I couldn't stand back and just watch happen and not have a voice for it, and you couldn't believe the numbers of people who are Mexicans, the numbers of people who are Mexicans, growers, that we're saying we are trying the process but our paperwork is being held up in the government because they're targeting us.

Sandy Wright: 20:00

We feel like we're being targeted, it just our process gets stalled time after time after time, so that they're trying, you know, to do the right thing, and so to just target people is not appropriate.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 20:12

Yes, we hear this from all across because all of our counties here, starting with Napa, but Sonoma County, mendocino County and up to Humboldt this is vineyard agricultural country walnut trees, almond trees, and a lot of the workers who do this work come in to do this. During certain times of the year they do the harvest and I know personally because we have 22 acres of Cabernet on our ranch and we have orchards and we hire in a crew that comes in specifically to do this. And then you heard Trump come out and say well, maybe we won't do it against the farm workers. You know it's like do you not stop to think about this? And this is our right to be able to get out there and to protest, and we did so peacefully, right? And there's so many problems and so many fronts. It's the immigration issue, it's the way that they're treating people, it is the way that they've taken out, or Trump has executive orders to try to change everything you know.

Sandy Wright: 21:23

it's interesting. You talk to younger women. We've been focused on those of us who've been through many of these kinds of things in our lives disagreements with administration and government but you talk to the young people and you know young girls in particular concerned about the reverse of Roe versus Wade and the women march Wendy mentioned it was also millions of women marching to say hold on government. Whether you believe in abortion or not, abortion is really not the point. If a woman is in trouble and needs to be treated, she shouldn't die on the table or have to search out some horrible, horrific operation. It's time that these young people speak up, and they are now. They're coming out in droves to say you know, it seems wrong that government should tell women, you know what they can or can't do with their bodies. You know that's kind of creepy.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 22:23

And telling also people how to live their lives and who they should live their lives with or who they should be. You know that's every person's human right to choose, and and I think the two of you could speak to that part as well- well, yeah, definitely to the whole marriage thing.

Sandy Wright: 22:42

We wanted to, then we didn't because we thought we weren't supposed to and we weren't covered. And so how long do you have to love somebody to prove that you should be together?

Wendy White: 22:52

Right, yeah, I don't know many, many of my my friends who have been couples for decades. They always have in the back of their mind that they've gone through the process and it will be stripped away from them. So some of us do. You know the legal due diligence to make sure that as a couple, that we are covered in certain ways. But we just know a lot of the pomp and circumstance that our male and female friend couples. There may be things that we just can't enjoy at that level, but we take every advantage that we can on a daily basis and hope that maybe, maybe, maybe we'll get lucky and things don't get taken away.

Wendy White: 23:33

But I do want to circle back on one thing you were saying, back kind of to the agricultural aspect of it.

Wendy White: 23:38

I mean, we as a as California as a whole and I know we're a little bit of a special anomaly sometimes because of how much business and industry we have within our state but I do know that when the executive orders, as you mentioned, were flying off the shelf, we saw a what we thought was a helping gesture where waters were released from dams that were water storage units down in the lower Southern Cal area and it ended up becoming a huge disaster, because our state knows when those levees are released to help with the fields and different agricultural crops, and the big deluge of water that was let out was dissolved and lost and that was seen as a gesture of thinking he had done all the right things without talking to anybody and made these swift moves without understanding the local politics make their own decisions, and then what we're seeing lately are big executive swoops that are now putting the government back into our space at levels that don't make any sense.

Sandy Wright: 24:54

We should support our governor and the president should support his governors. These are leading managers of California. We provide $3 trillion to federal income tax every year.

Wendy White: 25:11

The fifth largest economic in the world.

Sandy Wright: 25:13

Even the smallest state should be respected. But you know what I mean. It's like what are you doing?

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 25:18

I want to go back to not understanding the issue and going in like with a bulldozer and just plowing right through, which he did, with organizations all across the board educational institutions, gutting their grants and funding, and also NOAA, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. They're the ones who tell us when hurricanes are coming, tornadoes and the weather and, oh, they supply that information to our airlines and to our coast guard. This is something that, with ignorance, coming in and gutting those people, they took all the top scientists, they that have been there for decades, right and they understand these processes. They understand what needs to get done. Now, like one of the supervisors who was also let go, whom I knew that was in charge of both the Greater Fairlawn, cordell Bank, she had said they came in to take the first 20% and they didn't even ask her to go after the lowest performing. They just came in and took our top scientists right off the top.

Sandy Wright: 26:32

Right and I failed to mention that I'm an educator. Yeah, it's embarrassing to me that I'm teaching the opposite of what my government is obviously modeling, of what my government is obviously modeling. I'm trying to teach these kids about protecting our environment and doing the right things and then they're seeing, possibly their parents supporting this man who is creating chaos and fear. You know, literally I'm afraid to get into an airplane because the FAA has been affected by this, and there was someone in his administration I can't remember the name but in response to it said well, you know, the pilots can look out the window. I thought so. Now we're not supposed to use computers. You know what is the problem here?

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 27:23

And I'm a former private pilot and I'll tell you right now you need to have that radar. Yeah, you do Right.

Wendy White: 27:30

Yeah, you do. So I really hope that and I do know that we have so much more work to do we need to take a little bit broader ownership on connecting to the representatives that we have elected into their positions and make sure that they are advocating for us. It does start from the ground up and I think sometimes, like myself, in so many years, I just didn't have a vehicle or I didn't understand the direction. But I'm finding in these smaller towns that I'm connected with all over the Bay Area, that there are incredible groups that are doing incredible work to help navigate, to help get to your representatives, to have a voice, and I think so many of us speak to.

Wendy White: 28:20

I just can't make a difference in the world right now. Well, you can, you can and in, in, in, in incremental ways, if there's just if all of us just do one thing a day to make this world a better place, to put it in a position where where good things happen. It's amazing. We saw it. We saw it this weekend. Yeah, that's. I mean, those were. Those were numbers. There were over 5 million at some point, where they were saying between 3.5 million and 5 million people participated across the nation.

Sandy Wright: 28:50

Extraordinary. Yeah, I read this too that we were the envy of the world economically. You know we were being praised for what we were doing in America and just in 100 plus short days you know what happened People are now, I'm hearing, don't travel to America right now. And it's like what happened. His style is to just sweep and brush and that's extremely dangerous, in my opinion.

Wendy White: 29:22

Yeah.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 29:23

And I'm seeing pity messages coming from all countries online on social media. It's really disheartening, but at the same time, like you said, we can do. What we can do and that's one of the things that we're doing with this podcast is trying to raise the awareness that there are these critical issues, but there are people who are taking positive action and the people who are out on that day and who back to that kindness to our neighbors, to one another.

Sandy Wright: 30:13

I don't know how many people from the military just in Wallala but all over the place came out to speak in support and were there in support members of the military and were there in support members of the military. And I wonder how they feel. And I just wanted to ask somebody how do you feel about this recent event where the Marines were asked to come into Los Angeles and make a presence? Whatever reason they were there, they're not trained to be police enforcement. They are trained to be police enforcement. They are trained to be in combat. So having their presence there was kind of vicious, you know, and I think there's members of the military that not only agree but are embarrassed.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 30:58

That's what I heard as well from I have a number of military friends, but it's the action of pushing through like a bulldozer again and when there's no thought in advance that but this again is part of their plan to create chaos and chaos for whatever reason. The other side feels like this is a great tool and that things need to be remade. I was in the tech industry where disruption was the key, but in societies, in business, it's not human, no, and you need stability. You need to be able to forecast, you need to be able to expect and depend on certain things. You need that stability, and that's where they are disrupting that balance in this country. So we can do what we can with our voice, right With contacting our representatives, by voting, by spreading awareness wherever we can and participating in acts of ways that we can help, like you were just saying.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 32:06

So, last comment that you guys would like to say while we get this chance to talk to people about coming from us, for the Americans that do not want this current administration to continue acting out, what would you both like to finish with saying?

Sandy Wright: 32:25

I personally love the idea a friend of mine just mentioned at the other day writing to each and every single one of the Supreme Court judges, because if we're not on the side of the law, our letters need to be very specific. There's a felon in the White House, you know. I mean they're breaking the law and getting away with it and our judges are who we rely on. Our judicial branch is a strong and should be respected branch of the government, not just the executive branch you know, and so I urge people to.

Sandy Wright: 33:02

it's what 12 letters write them.

Wendy White: 33:08

I think for me, if I was sitting across the table from someone that and I have them in my family and friends and I plead with them to understand that not everyone has the same opportunities that to understand that sometimes decisions can have devastating effects, and if they choose to make decisions in this world, to really understand, read, pay attention to what the action is going, what the outcome is going to be based on a decision. And I feel like sometimes people think that everybody has the same opportunity in this world. Not everybody comes from privilege, not everyone comes from money, not everyone comes from, but I think we all come from a human desire to succeed and so everybody's path is not the same. So I just would say make sure that you understand both sides of the table. I'm okay with having someone disagree with me In fact, it makes me ask more questions about why and I want to make sure that my decisions are based on a complete understanding, and so I just ask the other side to have that equal compassion and have a conversation.

Wendy White: 34:28

I'm willing to talk to anyone. I want to learn, I want to understand. I just think that we need to, like you said earlier, let's bring the temperature down and realize that we're all human and we all want to live a wonderful life, and being kind is going to be the way to start that process.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 34:49

Really well put. Thank you for that, Wendy and Sandy. I appreciate that both of you coming on and talking with me today about this.

Wendy White: 34:57

We appreciate you chatting with us this morning and again sending you tons of support and, however, we can continue to help.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 35:04

All right. Well, you guys have a great day. I know you're going to have a busy one too. There's an excellent article in the Independent Coast Observer, written by Chelsea Randall, regarding this event. It's entitled Over 500 Attend Rallies Marked by Patrioticotic calls to action. In this article she writes that coordinated rallies for no Kings and Flag Day held on June 14th in Wallala and Point Arena drew more than 500 participants and featured impassioned speeches. Over 300 protesters gathered outside the Wallala Hotel at 10 am on Saturday, marching and chanting for nearly two hours. They held signs, waved hundreds of American flags distributed by we Are Democracy volunteers and joined in a heartfelt rendition of this Land is your Land. The rallies continued in Point Arena at noon, where more than 200 people lined Main Street.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 36:09

A sea of red, white and blue flags and echoes of no hate, no fear, everyone is welcome here set a unifying tone. Local voices met the moment with speeches highlighting the need to be civically engaged, while remembering what the flag truly stands for no justice, no peace. Michael Bone, daddy Thomas repeated that throughout his speech in Wallala. Thomas, a coastal resident for 50 years, said he attended his first protest at age 16. He quoted two of his personal heroes Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr to remind the crowd to stand up against injustice. Before leading the Pledge of Allegiance, thomas spoke about the flag, its design and its meaning. The flag its design and its meaning Our flag is a powerful symbol of patriotism and national unity, representing the shared values and ideals of our nation. Thomas said Brian Flynn swore to uphold these values when he enlisted in the US Navy at 21.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 37:25

As a submariner, he learned that his service meant preserving freedom, protecting his country and, most importantly, he said, supporting and defending the Constitution. This is what it's about. Flynn said, holding up a copy of the document. About. Flynn said holding up a copy of the document. This is what we're all doing right now defending the Constitution. This is the law of our land and that is part of the excellent article written by Chelsea Randall in the Independent Coast Observer on June 20, 2025.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 38:06

I'll conclude with this we do have resilience, each and every one of us. We can rebound, no matter how much they want to put us down. There's an interesting model of this. Where I live, by the ocean, this model of resilience. My home is surrounded by redwoods and their resilience is notable. There are numerous hollowed-out or burnt stumps which years ago had either been struck by lightning, survived a fire or were cut down by human hands. Yet new life sprouts up all around them, on top of them, on their sides, in the form of ferns, huckleberry bushes, mosses, redwood, sorrel, salal rhododendron, other woodland perennials and native plants, including new redwoods and even other types of trees, which sprout from redwood stumps, doesn't matter how blackened they were by fire or lightning strikes. In most cases, new redwood sprout and grow in circles around the stumps, which many call fairy rings. The vision of these is inspirational and I'm sharing a number of those photos in the visual version that you will find on YouTube coming up this weekend.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 39:33

Those of us who live and were born in the United States, who do not agree to the changes by this administration that are harmful to the environment, harmful to the climate and not protecting living nature for its services to all humankind as we heard Ralph Chalmy and others on this podcast previously discuss Nurture nature and nature nurtures us, something Richard Charter of the Ocean Foundation mentioned in one of the last episodes Indigenous around the world know this inherently, which brings me to my next topic. What does it mean, by the way, to mark up a bill? Well, it means for a legislative committee to formally review, amend and vote. It's a key step in the legislative process, where committee members debate bills and offer and vote on proposed changes amendments, in other words and ultimately decide whether to recommend the bill to the full chamber for further consideration. The reason I bring this up is because what's happening right now on 20 bills in the House of Natural Resources, in the committee there, they met on June 25th to participate in a markup on those 20 bills, which include two bills that would undermine national marine sanctuaries.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 41:02

Let me say that again, there are two bills that would undermine our national marine sanctuaries and they are HR 2556 by Republican representative from Texas Hunt, comprehensive Offshore Resource Enhancement Act of 2025, also called CORE C-O-R-E. Also called CORE C-O-R-E. The CORE Act would allow for seismic blasting and other oil and gas exploration activities to be conducted across our entire outer continental shelf, including in our national marine sanctuaries, including in those national marine sanctuaries which have been proving to be successful over the past 20 years of work there, and these activities lay the foundations for future oil and gas development and other extractive uses. And we've got example after example after example of oil spills and disasters that happen because of human error and technology's not always perfect. Equipment's not always perfect.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 42:18

Okay, so now to the next bill. There's HR 261, brought to the floor by Republican from Georgia, representative Carter, undersea Cable Protection Act of 2025, which attempts to amend the National Marine Sanctuary Act to permanently eliminate NOAA's authority to authorize or reject permits for the installation, operation, maintenance, repair or recovery of undersea fiber optic cables in a National Marine Sanctuary if such activities have previously been authorized by a federal or state agency. In summary, the House Natural Resources Committee is currently marking up several bills, which include HR 2556 and HR 261. These bills aim to increase offshore energy exploration and to propel the permits for undersea cables, raising serious concerns about negative impacts to these fragile ecosystems that are living and thriving in national marine sanctuaries. It is for these reasons, and many others, that we got out us older senior people to protest that day, on no Kings Day.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 43:50

There are too many actions that are being taken single-handedly, bulldozing forward without any consideration of the damage they're causing, and we did it peacefully, and you will notice that there are so many phrases that the other side uses to manipulate and gaslight the information, and I would like to touch on that in just a moment. I want to say one more thing that, coming up, we're going to also have a report by Captain Paul Watson, who attended and spoke at UNOC, which was the UN Ocean Conference held in Nice, france, recently. He wrote that 60 nations were secured to ratify the High Seas Treaty. We want to talk to him about that. He says it will give additional authority and solid legal defense for interventions against illegal activities like whaling, fishing, turtle poaching, shark finning, but also against environmental threats like deep sea mining, plastic debris and other unlawful activities. The High Seas Treaty joins the United Nations World Charter for Nature as an important enforcement tool. Hundreds of ocean supporters from around the globe, including civil society organizations, ngos, academic institutions, the scientific community, the private sector, philanthropic organizations and indigenous peoples, all came together to discuss the challenges and opportunities for implementing their goals. Here are a few of the outcomes we heard about from the International Ocean Film Festival update that, regarding marine protected areas, french Polynesia announced it will create the world's largest marine protected area. Hooray for them. As for the High Seas Treaty. By the conclusion of the conference, the treaty had 136 signatories. Those ratifying the treaty included island states such as Antigua, barbados, belize, cuba and Dominica, and the European Union, some of its members, including France, portugal and Spain, other nations such as Chile, norway and South Korea. You can learn more about the signatories and other parties on the UN website. When deep sea mining was discussed, world leaders continued to call for a moratorium. There's more that came out of the UN Ocean Conference and that will be coming up in a couple of weeks with Captain Paul Watson. Back to the no Kings Day protest, just to conclude, it was again estimated that more than 5 million people participated in 2,100 cities and towns, including the flagship event in Philadelphia. Protests that also took place in US territories and foreign countries. Days later, what happens? But this administration drops bombs and fired missiles at Iran.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 46:53

I'm Leigh Anne Lindsey and, in my opinion, distraction is the name of the game that Trump and his enablers are using to gain more power, influence and income and to take the heat off their reckless changes to this country's infrastructure.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 47:07

Divide, distract, discourage, dissuade, according to new psychology research by Eric W Dolan that was released this past May. He wrote that political discussions in 2025 are still grappling with issues of narcissistic mirroring, manipulation and gaslighting, often linked to authoritarian tendencies and their impact on democratic processes. And they keep using that phrase the deep state to put fear in people's minds. They use that fear tactic. And so what can we do? It is crucial for credible news organizations, public officials and engaged citizens to collaborate in sharing accurate information and exposing these harmful methods. It's why I'm doing this podcast right now. It's why I'm focused on this today. I was very encouraged by the no Kings Day turnout, but I'll continue. The second thing that we can do are community initiatives that can include supporting honest political candidates, promoting media literacy and having open discussions to challenge manipulated narratives. I'll say that again Open discussions to challenge manipulated narratives. Remain informed about political developments and resist the temptation to become disengaged. It's easy to do, I know, but it's essential in safeguarding democratic institutions.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 48:44

Be aware of inconsistencies. Pay attention to whether a politician's words align with their actions or their past statements. This is a good one when it comes to Trump. In specific Fact. Check information. Don't automatically accept statements as true, even from those in positions of power. Verify information from reliable sources. Trust your instincts. Information from reliable sources. Trust your instincts.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 49:15

If something feels off or makes you question your own judgment, it may be a sign of gaslighting. Consider the source. Be critical of information from sources that seem overly biased or designed to provoke a strong emotional response. They want to provoke that fear or anger response. Don't let them Look for patterns. Pay attention to repeated instances of denial, blame shifting or attempts to rewrite history. In conclusion, narcissistic mirroring and gaslighting are serious concerns in the political sphere. That's eroding public trust all across our country and potentially hindering democratic processes. Awareness and critical thinking are crucial tools in recognizing and resisting these manipulative tactics.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 50:17

And then we look at all the unnecessary actions that were taken in LA and there are still National Guards, men and women, stationed down there all this time later and they're not doing anything. I also spoke with another neighbor who was texting with their grown child this last June 24th, who's still currently deployed in LA with their National Guard unit in response to the so-called riots that occurred a week or so ago. Since no ongoing riots have occurred in the media, the White House and Trump have turned their attention elsewhere and drummed up a lot more drama, that's for sure. Meanwhile, the National Guard troops are still in LA and they are at the Los Alamitos base in Long Beach and federal orders are not releasing anyone maybe for another couple of months, and this individual continued to text their parents saying they are making people miss vacations, honeymoons, funerals and other stuff. For this, they even made people fly back from across the country for this.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 51:27

I'm telling you this is all part of the gaslighting and manipulation, and it spills over into every corner of government, and a good example of that is the gaslighting through the EPA and NOAA, where they have transplanted their own yes people and gutted most of the scientists from these agencies. This is why we want to be clear about what is happening to the environment in this world. We want to share information from scientists and experts in their fields. We recommend that, if you can, to please support those who can continue to take positive actions for our environment so that we can all continue to thrive and survive. This world belongs to all of us. To thrive and survive. This world belongs to all of us. There are many good people out there who still invest in long-term thinking and oversight, not short-sighted, selfish actions that could bring about our planet's demise.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 52:24

We do what we can here at Resilient Earth Radio and Podcast to raise awareness about the facts, to break through the array of disinformation and gaslighting created on a daily basis with this administration. It's important. It's important and, if you'd like to support us, we do have a 501c3 nonprofit, planet-centric media that you can make a donation to. Just go to our website at resilientearthradiocom or through planetcentricmediacom. There are a lot of organizations out there that are actively doing what they can to protect the environment. You can support them too.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 53:10

I'm Leigh Anne Lindsey. Thanks for listening.

Leigh Anne Lindsey: 53:22

Thanks for listening to the Resilient Earth podcast, where we talk about critical issues and positive actions for our planet. Resilient Earth is produced by Planet Centric Media, a 501c3 nonprofit, and Sea Storm Studios Inc. Located on the rugged North Sonoma Coast of Northern California. I'm Leigh Anne Lindsey, producer and host, along with co-hosts and co-producers Scott and Tree Mercer of the Mendonoma Whale and Seal Study, located on the South Mendocino and North Sonoma coasts. The music for this podcast is by Eric Allaman, an international composer, pianist and writer living in the Sea Ranch. Discover more of his music, animations, ballet, stage and film work at EricAllaman. com. You can find Resilient Earth on Spotify, Apple and Amazon Podcasts, iHeartRadio, YouTube, Soundcloud and wherever you find your podcasts. Please support us by subscribing or donating to our cause.