Burning Man climate protest leads to miles-long traffic jam

Climate protesters used a barricade to block a Nevada highway, triggering a traffic jam during the opening day of Burning Man 2023 on Aug. 27. The blockage was eventually cleared when a ranger used a patrol vehicle to run over the barricade.

The chairman of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, a sovereign nation whose land the highway passes through, said in a statement that rangers responded to protesters blocking state Route 447 around 1 p.m. after a line of traffic with Burning Man attendees stretched for several miles. 

“One Ranger used his patrol vehicle to move the blockade debris out of the roadway to allow Burning Man traffic to proceed,” he said. “The involved Ranger’s conduct is under review.”

SFGATE reached out to Burning Man for comment and did not receive a response.

A coalition of activists called Seven Circles based in New York took credit for the disruption and told SFGATE in a statement it had a set of demands for the leadership of Burning Man. 

Seven Circles said the purpose of the protest was “to draw attention to capitalism’s inability to address climate and ecological breakdown” and included three demands, including banning the use of private jets and single-use plastics at Burning Man and for the organization’s leaders to “admit that infinite growth is incompatible with sustaining the Earth’s systems.”

Phoenix wrote that five protesters were cited and released, including one from California.