Oprah, George & Amal Clooney Are Joined By The Spielbergs & Katzenbergs In Pledging $500,000 To March For Our Lives

Oprah Winfrey stepped into the philanthropy box Tuesday, joining George and Amal Clooney,in also committing a $500,000 donation and general pledge of support for March for Our Lives in partnership with Everytown for Gun Safety. The event is being organized by students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Both Clooneys will also participate in the Washington, DC demonstration on March 24, being organized by the surviving students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

"Amal and I are so inspired by the courage and eloquence of these young men and women from Stoneman Douglas High School . . . Our family will be there on March 24 to stand side by side with this incredible generation of young people from all over the country, and in the name of our children Ella and Alexander, we're donating $500,000 to help pay for this groundbreaking event. Our children's lives depend on it."

The March for Our Lives is organized by Stoneman Douglas students Cameron Kasky, Emma Gonzalez, David Hogg, Alex Wind, and Jaclyn Corin, in partnership with Everytown for Gun Safety. “I'm just a high school student,” Kasky wrote in a recent op-ed, “and I do not pretend to have all of the answers. However, even in my position, I can see that there is desperate need for change—change that starts by folks showing up to the polls and voting all those individuals who are in the back pockets of gun lobbyists out of office.”

The articulate voices of the students have overwhelmed open-minded adults across America. On Twitter, Winfrey compared the Stoneman Douglas student organizers Cameron Kasky, Emma Gonzalez, David Hogg, Alex Wind, and Jaclyn Corin to the Freedom Riders of the 1960s who “also said we’ve had enough and our voices will be heard.”

Two more Hollywood couples joined the Clooneys and Oprah in matching their donations. Producer Jeffrey Katzenberg and his wife Marilyn were joined by Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg in also supporting the initiative.

“The young students in Florida and now across the country are already demonstrating their leadership with a confidence and maturity that belies their ages," said Spielberg via his representative, Marvin Levy. "Kate (Capshaw) and I applaud their efforts to take a stand for the benefit of this and future generations. They are an inspiration to us all, and we are joining in this movement with a donation of $500,000.”

In a statement sent by representative Rachel Peterson, Katzenberg said, “(My wife) Marilyn and I are proud to stand with the brave young leaders from Parkland, Fla., who have taken their pain and grief and turned it into action. We will join Amal and George Clooney on March 24 to stand alongside these remarkable young people. We are also donating $500,000 to March for Our Lives to support this historic event.”

Michael Bloomberg Leads 'We Are Still In' US Coalition Supporting Paris Agreement, As Trump Bows Out

In the days since Trump's depressing remarks, the tech community has rallied, joined by its leaders, including billionaire philanthropist and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. 

"In the absence of leadership from Washington, states, cities, colleges and universities and businesses representing a sizeable percentage of the U.S. economy will pursue ambitious climate goals, working together to take forceful action and to ensure that the U.S. remains a global leader in reducing emissions," the coalition, which now consists of more than 1,000 cities, counties, states, universities and businesses, said in a statement released Monday. 

Going by the name "We Are Still In," the coalition called itself "the broadest cross section of the American economy yet assembled in pursuit of climate action." It includes states like New York and California, joined by more than a dozen Fortune 500 companies. 

"In the absence of a supportive federal coordinating role, [city, state, business, and civil society] actors will more closely coordinate their own decarbonization actions. Collectively, they will redouble their efforts to ensure that the U.S. achieves the carbon emissions reductions it pledged under the Paris Agreement," Bloomberg wrote in a letter to the United Nations secretary-general. 

Bloomberg added: "We do not intend to slow down."

The philanthropist has promised to contribute the $15 million the United Nations climate change secretariat now stands to lose from Washington. 

Lynelle Cameron, president of the Autodesk Foundation, expressed optimism that business leaders appear to be moving off the sidelines on climate change. 

"In Trump's first few months in office, he has done more to catalyze and motivate the private sector than Hurricane Katrina or Sandy, or the work of talented environmental organizations put together," Cameron wrote in an op-ed for CNBC. "Trump's latest decision will activate the private sector like we've never seen before."

Two prominent business leaders, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Disney chairman Bob Iger, resigned from the White House business advisory council last week to protest the president's decision. 

New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Next Act

New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Next Act

New York Magazine profiles Michael Bloomberg in-depth, as the New York major prepares for a new life out of political office. The centrist operating in a world where moderates almost have no place is determined that in his new role, money and expertise will constitute a “truly massive influence”.

Chicago mayor Rob Emmanuel — who is himself the beneficiary of a Bloomberg-financed swat team dedicated to streamlining city government bureaucracies — says of the mayor who knows best “He has passions on gun control, immigration, and climate change.”

We learn that Bloomberg was quietly offered a job as head of the World Bank, as Robert Zoellick prepared to step down.  In March, a journalist asked the mayor:

“How likely is it that you’d buy the New York Times?”

“It’s not for sale,” Bloomberg shot back. “And why would I want to buy the Times?”