In celebration of World Environment Day, James Nugent, associate professor in UW’s school of environment, resources, and sustainability, and Tamara Lorincz, PhD graduand at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, hosted a screening of American journalist Abby Martin’s film Earth’s Greatest Enemy, along with a discussion of the environmental impact of war and militarism on June 5.
This two-hour documentary was released on Sept. 20, 2025. It tackles the impact of the United States’s military on the climate and environment. Lorincz was featured in the film as she shared her insights on the impact of NATO.
“Abby Martin… knew that I was gonna be at the climate summit in Glasgow [Scotland] in the fall of 2021, so she set up an interview while I was there… and she asked me about the climate and environmental impacts of NATO, of the U.S. led military alliance… I was really pleased that she included the discussion about NATO, and the expansion of this military alliance and all of the problems that it has caused environmentally,” she said.
After the screening, Lorincz and Nugent each shared their presentation on militarism and its impact on the climate and environment.
Lorincz presented statistics regarding Canada’s military to help put the film’s argument about militarism’s environmental impact into a Canadian perspective. She highlighted a discrepancy in government spending as the latest public accounts of Canada showed that the Department of National Defence used $34.3 billion, while the Department of Environment and Climate Change only used $1.5 billion.
She urges Canadians to seek cooperation and peace as they push for demilitarization. “We really need to prevent more militarization of our country, and that requires us to look seriously at the issue of demilitarization and disarmament to protect the planet, and to protect people. So, I would like the audience to centre peace in their concern around the climate crisis, and the environmental crisis, and to make the links between the need for peace in order to protect the planet,” she said.
Nugent followed with his presentation highlighting the destructiveness, lasting effects, and longevity of war as he cites examples, such as the birth defects caused by the Vietnam War and the massive agricultural destruction in Gaza.
“You have to dehumanize the enemy. So an everyday act, to prevent wars is really to see people from other countries as human beings… that we can cooperate with… I think the other thing is to join collective groups that are organizing and researching and taking action on these issues,” Nugent described as a call to action.
OT, a grad student at the UW who asked to use a nickname, shared his thoughts on the film: “I think it was good and, like, an introductory film. But then it’s limited… It kind of played into like Americanism in terms of spending a lot of time on disgruntled troops and whatnot. And I think that really limits it. Like… they didn’t interview anyone in Iraq but they interviewed American soldiers….”
The film can be rented for viewing here.
