Interview

Journalist Abby Martin’s new documentary takes aim at one of the world’s largest polluters: the U.S. military

Martin spoke with The Southlander about “Earth’s Greatest Enemy,” and her revolutionary optimism about the growing consciousness of people around the globe.

Abraham Márquez, Morgan Keith

26 Nov 2025 • 6 min read

On Oct. 18, The Empire Files premiered its highly anticipated film about the devastating impact our environment and planet are experiencing due to the United States military-industrial complex. Titled “Earth’s Greatest Enemy,” it follows journalists Abby Martin and Mike Prysner who spent years researching, studying, and traveling the world to report on the effects of the military's massive carbon footprint.

The documentary follows the filmmakers as they interview activists on the Japanese island of Okinawa, confront Nancy Pelosi at Glasgow’s COP26, visit the Matanuska Glacier in Alaska, and jump on a helicopter at the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, the world’s largest international maritime warfare drill.

The film's creators started the project five years ago, but it is part of their ongoing body of work as investigative journalists. Martin has reported on the U.S. war machine throughout her career, and Prysner, a U.S. Army veteran, has dedicated his life since returning from Iraq to exposing U.S. war crimes and lies by speaking out and organizing anti-war protests.

“The military is essentially a worshiped and revered institution in this country,” Martin told Southlander journalist Morgan Keith. “A lot of Americans have no idea that we live in a global military empire. When you say the word empire, they think you're talking about ‘Star Wars.’”

In addition to their individual work, they launched The Empire Files in 2015, an interview and documentary series in which they’ve reported from the West Bank, Amazon, Venezuela, Colombia, the Amazon, and much more.

“Like our first documentary film, ‘Gaza Fights for Freedom,’ we want this film to serve as a tool for activists and organizers across the country to help more people understand how capitalism and U.S. imperialism are at the heart of climate change,” said Prysner at the premiere.

At the premiere, both Martin and Prysner talked about the challenge of tackling such a massive project. “The more we looked, the more it grew,” Martin said. As the world heads toward climate catastrophe, the filmmakers say, the military’s excessive role in causing that crisis cannot be ignored.

The premiere of ‘Earth’s Greatest Enemy’ is screened at the Fine Arts Theatre on Oct. 18. | Photo Credit: Kristina Bakrevski

“When we (Martin and Prysner) had our first child, we were kind of just overwhelmed with the cataclysmic changes on the horizon when it comes to climate change, and we were alarmed at the lack of reporting of the intersection of these two issues, war and empire,” Martin said.“And then, when I just dug deeper and deeper and realized that the military is excluded from all these climate treaties, that militarism, I mean, it supersedes basically any endangered habitat. The military can basically override any body, the EPA, and can go anywhere where it wants under the pretense of national security.”

The U.S. military operates on a scale that reaches nearly every part of the world, and the environmental damage it causes is enormous. It emits more carbon pollution than any other single institution on Earth, and according to some estimates, more than entire nations combined.

One of the ironies of the situation, according to the film, is that those most immediately impacted by the military's pollution are often members of the military themselves. It's a population already saddled with high homelessness rates, VA benefits that have become increasingly privatized, and heightened deportation risks for non-citizen veterans. Add to that exposure to toxic U.S. military dump zones and the resulting long-term health effects.

“What I think a lot of people don't realize is that a lot of the victims of military pollution are their own service members, and they lie and they lie and they lie and they cover it up and they cover it up, and then when it's finally exposed, they deny the claims until these people are all dead, whether we're talking about burn pits or Agent Orange exposure,” Martin said. “The story is all the same.”

Watch a trailer for “Earth’s Greatest Enemy.” The film is currently being screened around the country and will be available to rent or purchase online in the future.

‘Earth’s Greatest Enemy’ was screened at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills. | Photo Credit: Kristina Bakrevski

📢 ICYMI: Mini-documentary ‘The Trauma of ICE Terror’ shot and produced by The Southlander

The ICE raids have not stopped, yet much of the mainstream media has moved on. Southland residents whose loved ones have been taken by the federal government’s de facto secret police force are left picking up the pieces. Some, like Narciso Barranco, have been allowed to return home while they fight their deportation case.

“The Trauma of ICE Terror” is precisely about what that is like for a family here in the Southland.

Our first grant and why it’s important to receive ongoing support

We were recently awarded our first grant: the Spark Fund grant! 👏

This grant, $1,000, is specifically for professional development so we are allocating it for Southlander investigative reporter Morgan Keith’s ongoing higher education. For those who don’t know, Morgan is pursuing a master’s degree in journalism. She has been diligently working on a podcast about Southland residents navigating the labyrinth that is the U.S. immigration system that will be releasing soon.

This grant comes at a crucial time for us as we continue to work on our first stories and work towards publishing original reporting. We’d like to shout out the Tiny News Collective, which we are members of, for this grant!

However, it is with your support that we will be fully-funded and sustainable. Reoccurring donations allows us to budget for the long haul and keep working towards unleashing The Southlander.

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