The environmental movement and the peace movement share a target: militarism. The U.S. military has over 800 toxic bases around the world that act as launching pads for war, emitting billions of tons of carbon dioxide, making the U.S. military the largest institutional polluter in the world. War is driven by resource extraction; without it, resource extraction would not be possible. There’s no way around it: in order to save the planet, we need to end war, imperialism, and U.S. militarism. We must break down the barriers between movements to meaningfully address the existential threat that war poses to the earth.
We seek to join forces with the environmental movement that raises $16 billion annually to tackle climate change by exposing the elephant in the room: war and militarism. The anti-war community receives 0.011% of all philanthropy; if we are going to save the planet and end war we need to join forces. Help us shine a light on the Elephant in the Room for those who are funded to address climate chaos.
We are here to help them learn about something that has been intentionally hidden and swept under the rug. If either of us is going to stop the climate crisis and militarism, we need to work together. We have picked 12 of the largest organizations, each vastly different, to teach about the elephant in the room; they receive a combined $3.79 billion in annual revenue.
Grab Our Flyers! Grab Our Posters!
We started with the Sierra Club, and made substantial progress at the local and national level, securing a meeting with the executive team.
Now, we're reaching out to the Environmental Defense Fund to ask about their partnership on one of the the largest oil, gas, and tech billionaire conferences in the world:
Invitation to the Environmental Defense Fund: We Can Help You Fulfill Your Mission!
- Sierra Club — sign up to bring a screening of Earth's Greatest Enemy to a local chapter!
- Center for Biological Diversity
- Earthjustice
- Project Drawdown
- Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
- National Audubon Society
- National Wildlife Federation
- Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) – invite the Environmental Defense Fund to meet with us and unite for the planet!
- World Wildlife Fund (WWF-US)
- The Wilderness Society
- Conservation International
- The Nature Conservancy
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the goal of the Elephant in the Room campaign? Why are you grouping all of these organizations together?
The goal of the Elephant in the Room campaign is to engage with climate spaces that have large resources and bases, but currently don't address militarism. Each organization listed on this page functions differently and brings something different into organizing spaces. They also have different politics, focuses, membership, audiences, theories of change, and goals.
These organizations all have immense resources and national recognition, thus engaging them creates the ability to push these connections to the forefront of media, organizing, advocacy, and philanthropic conversations.
By doing so, we can get closer to growing and uniting our movements into something that isn’t just a “climate movement” or “anti-war movement” but a mass front against war, militarism, imperialism, and colonialism, and for peace, sustainability, internationalism, and sovereignty.
What was your Sierra Club campaign? Where does it stand now?
Our work with the Sierra Club, as part of our “Elephant in the Room” campaign is rooted in the enormous grassroots power of the organization. With almost 4 million members, chapters around the country, and almost $200 million in annual revenue, the organization has the potential to be an incredible bridge between anti-war, anti-militarism, and environmental justice organizing.
Thus far in our campaign, we have delivered two petitions to the headquarters of Sierra Club. At the same time, we’ve been engaging with our chapters at the local level to connect local campaign work to a global context and show films like Earth’s Greatest Enemy with Sierra Club chapters. We are continuing to do this work and to reach out to Sierra Club chapters and other local environmental organizations to show the film. After meeting with the Sierra Club at the national level and opening a door to future communication, we are moving our national work toward engagement with other organizations on this list.
What is your Environmental Defense Fund campaign?
Our work surrounding the Environmental Defense Fund was brought about via our dismay with the organization acting as an official partner of the CERAWeek conference in Houston — the “Super Bowl” of oil, gas, and energy conferences.
The EDF participated in a number of panels, while organizers converged in Houston outside of the conference to build grassroots power and confront these tycoons of extraction and war. Attendees of the “Confronting CERAWeek” convergence included many people from the Gulf South region— a region hit the hardest by environmental injustice and the poisonous effects of oil refineries.
The EDF claims that it is important to find “common ground with stakeholders,” including these oil and gas companies, military officials, and tech companies building deadly data centers around the country. The EDF’s website highlights its efforts in cutting methane emissions and touts its “game-changing” corporate partnerships with the likes of McDonald's, Walmart, FedEx, and KKR — an investment firm with holdings in weapons manufacturers.
This theory of change might seem effective on the surface, but in reality, it is completely divorced from the material realities of people around the world. This theory of change unfortunately amplifies false solutions and misses the elephant in the room. Simply “greening” industries that rely on extraction and profit above all else is a dead-end.
By petitioning the EDF for a meeting and to sign onto our letter, Environmentalists Unite: War Fuels the Climate Crisis, we are able to shine a light on these contradictions and educate those in the EDF’s orbit: funders, organizers, and their audience. Instead of false solutions and an approach to climate that isolates issues from the institutions behind them, we are pointing toward the only thing that will save the people and planet: a mass movement built on demilitarization and fighting for a world free from endless extraction, exploitation, and colonialism. The EDF, which raised $436 million in 2025 alone, could have immense power here.