About

Sonny Champagne and the BillionAIres is a music project centered on documenting and amplifying the environmental rollbacks and irreparable harms being done on the American people through song. Executive Orders since the 47th president's inauguration in January 2025 have rolled back significant environmental protections. The project aims to write a song for each executive order harming the environment.

Music

EO 14154 – Unleashing American Energy

Jan 20, 2025

The executive order reorients federal policy toward "energy dominance" by maximizing fossil fuel extraction on federal lands and waters, resuming LNG export approvals, and dismantling Biden-era climate and environmental justice directives. It directs the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to rescind government-wide NEPA regulations, sharply weakening environmental review, and orders a pause and reassessment of major Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law climate and clean-energy investments.

EO 14241 – Immediate Measures To Increase American Mineral Production

Mar 20, 2025

Declares that federal environmental regulations have "eroded" mineral production and directs agencies to "facilitate domestic mineral production to the maximum extent possible," invoking the Defense Production Act. It opens essentially all federal lands to mining as a priority use, orders expedited permitting and financing for critical-mineral projects, and establishes the National Energy Dominance Council to coordinate aggressive expansion of mining and processing.

FAQ

Who is Sonny Champagne?

Sonny Champagne is an AI persona, produced by Jon Bellona, that serves as a platform for documentation and crafting a counter narrative. Instead of pushing out music as fast as possible, we are focused on curating lyrics from laws, direct quotes from events, and executive orders. We curate, cull, and shape. Should this music take hold, proceeds generated will support organizations fighting for a livable planet (i.e., the NRDC, 350.org), human-centered music projects, and organizations working to pay musicians a living wage in the age of AI.

Why do you need a music project to highlight environmental harms?

The increase in executive orders focused on the environment has been swift and far-reaching. Leveraging music gives voice to the injustices rendered. An AI music persona enables the project to keep pace with the environmental rollbacks and document the process in real time.

Is your process harmful to the environment?

All actions carry some cost. Sonny Champagne uses a service that relies on data centers and has a negative environmental impact to generate a thing that points toward environmental harms by Executive Orders. Irony lives here. Giving voice to irreparable harms is necessary, prudent, and situational. Our AI is being fertilized with the fodder of old men and their excrement, helping to fertilize the rising tide of resistance.

How did you make the music?

We used Suno to create Sonny Champagne. We know AI is problematic. Proceeds generated from this project will be used to support organizations fighting for a livable planet, human made music projects, and organizations working to pay musicians a living wage in the age of AI (e.g. Music Workers Alliance, Human Artistry Campaign, and Harmonic Laboratory).