A toxic refinery is endangering thousands of people...

How do you kickstart a local organizing campaign to shut it down?

​On April 24th, 2018, the refinery in Superior, Wisconsin blew up, the town had to be evacuated, and the surrounding population was put in grave danger due to the potential release of hydrogen fluoride, an extremely toxic chemical used in oil refining. The refinery’s owner is rebuilding and plans to continue using hydrogen fluoride. Many in the town resigned themselves to living close to a poisonous hazard. At the request of local residents, Modest Proposals reanimated the issue by impersonating the refinery’s owner and going on a satirical charm offensive called “Husky Friends”. Husky Friends was covered with full segments on the local evening news, and statewide coverage through Wisconsin Public Radio. This brought the issue back to life and helped kick start a local organizing campaign. It also prodded the company, Cenovus Energy, into sending a mailer to the entire town denouncing the satire, and animating the issue they wanted so badly to avoid.​

About Us

Modest Proposals is an activist collective dedicated to creating positive change using satire, storytelling, and disrupting an unjust status quo. As Jonathan Swift did hundreds of years ago, we're using humor to break through entrenched thinking and destructive norms to show a fresh perspective on our world's iniquities, turn bystanders into participants, and present a kinder, more just vision for our planet's present and future.

We started as the Tech Action community group under the umbrella of Extinction Rebellion's New York City chapter. Since then we've evolved into an independent group that incorporates members of both Extinction Rebellion and The Yes Men.