◉ Third Act Newsletter
No Kings protest in Pennsylvania
Joyce,
There are moments—this is one—when it feels to me like the pace just keeps accelerating. Third Actors came out of last fall’s Sun Day charged up to work, and as spring winds down we have convinced ten states to make plug-in solar legal. The data center fight has sprung up out of seemingly nowhere, and we’re in the thick of it. And of course this absolutely crucial election season is now in full swing, with Third Actors endorsing, campaigning, raising money, making calls.
There’s no one better placed to make sense of all of this than Bernie Sanders, who will join us for the next big national call, on June 17. He’s helping lead the data center battle even while he’s criss-crossing the country to elect the next generation of leaders—and speaking of the next generation, we’ll also be joined by Aru Shiney-Ajay, the head of the Sunrise Movement; if Third Act has a youth counterpart, I suppose that would be Sunrise, which is doing great work across the spectrum of issues.
The small central staff of Third Act has just emerged from a weeklong retreat, full of more ideas and plans—our job is to help you coordinate your efforts so that they add up to more than the sum of their parts. That’s what a movement is, a way for the small and the many to stand up to the mighty and the few. And we’ve never needed it more!
Bill McKibben
P.S.—quick FYI to share that Third Act staffers take a summer break from their desks to reconnect to nature, family, and friends. We’ll be offline the week of July 6, and we won’t be sending a newsletter that month. We’ll be in touch before and after that week in many other ways!
Third Act’s 2026 Spring Staff Retreat
Third Act staff gather twice a year in person to plan, evaluate, dream, and connect. Staff just returned from our spring retreat at the Watershed Center in Millerton, New York, where we cozied up in a charming yurt to talk about the work and how it all fits together. As we looked back at the previous six months and ahead to the coming six, we did our best to recognize patterns, revise systems, and see around corners. Of course, we also got to laugh and dance together (this year we also helped weed one of Watershed’s huge gardens).
It was truly awe-inspiring to take a step back and appreciate how much amazing work Third Actors have already accomplished in 2026. You’ve lobbied legislatures, advanced solar and renewable energy bills, turned out thousands at protests, won local elections, stopped AI data centers, provided mutual aid to threatened immigrant communities—and did it all with good humor and refreshing creativity.
With the midterms ahead, our Democracy and electoral work was a major focus. So we devoted one whole day to GrayPAC, focusing on working group needs and endorsements, canvassing and partners, and where it might be strategic to send Bill. We also spent time on internal systems for coordination and work planning, our anti-authoritarian work, narrative and decision making, as well as some scheming towards Third Act’s upcoming five-year anniversary!
Just a few days together gives us momentum and also grounds us; it is important to remember who we are as embodied colleagues and friends.
Third Actors in Action
Third Act DC is Not Buying Trump’s Gilded Arch!
The energy and creativity of Third Actors in the D.C. area never wanes! Now they’re pulling all-nighters in their efforts to expose the authoritarian atrocities in our nation’s capital.
Over Memorial Day weekend, volunteers from D.C., Maryland, and Virginia hosted a three-day vigil to decry Trump’s latest vanity project, the giant triumphal arch he wants to erect near Arlington Cemetery.
“Egotistical and outrageous,” the group charges that the 250-foot tall monument “will overwhelm everything else in sight with its blatant disregard of history and disrespect for the sacred gravity of Arlington Cemetery.”
Click here to see photos and stories from the vigil—and don’t miss Rachel Maddow’s shout-out here!
Victories Over Data Centers: Third Act Nevada on Overdrive
Across the country, a plague of AI-driven data centers funded by technofascists is raising urgent concerns about electricity demand, land and water use, fossil fuel dependence, public subsidies, local zoning, and public transparency. We’ve teamed up with several coalition partners to demand a moratorium on these behemoths to allow time for public analysis and input about the future of our communities.
Despite back-room deals and Big Tech billions, activists are beginning to make progress, and more than 70 temporary moratoriums have been enacted!
Third Act Nevada won several data center battles in May. In Reno, community pressure moved the City Council to extend their recent moratorium on new data center development while stronger local protections are considered. Check out reporting from this local ABC network to see Third Actors in action; you can even catch some TV coverage of our Organizing Director, B Fulkerson.
In Boulder City, the Planning Commission recommended denial of a proposed data center after Third Actors and other residents raised the alarm. Read this terrific blogfrom Nevada’s new co-facilitator Vikki as she recounts her activist adventures in this David & Goliath battle.
Third Act Endorses the 2026 Banking on Climate Chaos Report
Building on 17 years of research and analysis, this year’s report continues to expose the world’s biggest banks and financial centers fueling climate chaos, and equips movements with the facts needed to drive urgent change. Third Act, Third Act SoCal, and Third Act Texas have endorsed the 2026 report—read it here!
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Join Our Summer All-in Call on June 17!
Join us for the launch of GrayPAC 2026. We’ll share our strategy and roadmap for winning this November, how we’re reading the landscape, and we’ll be joined by special guests Sen. Bernie Sanders and Aru Shiney-Ajay, from the Sunrise Movement. You’ll leave with action items to defend and revive our democracy—when it could not possibly matter more.
GrayPAC is the political action committee of Third Act—created so our community can elect leaders and advance solutions for a thriving climate and a vibrant democracy.
Paid for by GrayPAC. Not authorized by any candidates or candidates’ committees.
1110 N Virgil Ave #375 Los Angeles, CA 90029
Election and Midterms Updates
Good Trouble Lives On! June 17–19
This year’s weekend of action will honor the legacy of Congressman John Lewis and carry the torch of the civil rights movement by doing what Lewis loved most: organizing, educating, and taking action.
Write Postcards to Voters in Swing States!
We’re teaming up with Progressive Turnout Project to write Get Out the Vote postcards to key swing states for the Nov. 3 midterm elections key House races in the fall! Postcards to Swing States will mail you the postcards for free, along with voter lists and instructions with proven message options. Postcards are proven to boost Democratic turnout by up to 1.3%! For questions or support, email postcards@turnoutpac.org.
Rise Up, Sing Out: A Concert for the First Amendment—June 14
On June 14, the Committee for the First Amendment will be hosting Rise Up, Sing Out: A Concert for the First Amendment, an uplifting evening of song, solidarity, and action. Featuring an all-star line-up—Bette Midler, Patti Smith, and Julia Roberts—this 90-minute concert event will celebrate the freedoms guaranteed by our First Amendment.
The event will be streamed with watch parties all across the country—so wherever you are, you can sing along and take meaningful action.
Looking for additional ways to get involved? Check out Third Act’s Democracy Can’t Waitaction page, regularly updated with actions, resources, and information to help you fight this regime in your community and beyond.
Big Tech is racing to build fossil-fueled AI data centers—and we’re organizing to stop them. If everyone reading chipped in $20, we could reach our $150,000 goal by summer’s end. Give now.
Upcoming Events in June
Data Centers Are Not Inevitable: National Coalition with Food & Water Watch
June 11, 2026 — 4PM PT/7PM ET
Join us and Citizens Action Coalition, Food & Water Watch, GreenLatinos, and more to launch a national coalition fighting for data center moratoria nationwide.
Building Powerful Campaigns against AI Data Centers: Organizing Training Series (Session 4)
June 16, 2026 — 3PM PT/6PM ET
Session four of our five-part webinar series will help you gain the tools you need to ask powerful research questions, uncover connections and lobbying relationships, and follow money trails that corporations hide to gain a strategic advantage over our communities.
Fighting Back: the Corporations Behind Data Centers
June 24, 2026 — 3PM PT/6PM ET
People everywhere are demanding a halt to the rapid expansion of AI-driven data centers. Join us to take a closer look at real-world tactics that target corporations, and how these tactics can help us to win data center moratoria.
Hope and Joy Series: Cultivating Faith, Healing the Earth, Living with Courage with Debra Rienstra
June 25, 2026 — 4PM PT/7PM ET
Spend an evening with author Debra Rienstra reflecting on the deep connections between faith and care for the earth, as we together seek wisdom and resilience in a time of disruption.
