Extinction Rebellion America (XRA)

The XRA was created in 2020 as a splinter group of local chapters from Extinction Rebellion US (XR US), the U.S.-based affiliate of XR,  following disagreements with XR US adding ‘social justice’ principles to the organization’s nationwide mission. ²

Background

Extinction Rebellion America (XRA) is one of two nationwide Extinction Rebellion movement organizations in the United States, the other being Extinction Rebellion US (XR US). The movement was created in the United Kingdom in 2019 by individuals affiliated with Earth First! and Occupy Wall Street. ^{3  4}  Originally known for promoting acts of vandalism and intentionally disruptive civil disobedience, in December 2022 XR announced that it had decided “to temporarily shift away from public disruption as a primary tactic.”  ⁵ However, activists affiliated with the organization have continued to engage in disruptive demonstrations and vandalism since the announcement.  ⁶

XRA’s demands include a transition to global net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, moving “the whole of society…into a new precautionary paradigm,” and replacing the U.S constitutional system with a government “led by a Citizens’ Assembly on Climate and Ecological Justice.” ¹

Upon its creation in 2018, XR US affirmed the same “Three Demands” formed by the international XR movement: “Tell the Truth,” “Act Now,” “Decide Together.” ⁷ However, in 2019, XR US voted to add a fourth demand, “Just Transition,” which would call for a net-zero global economy that prioritizes “the most vulnerable people and indigenous sovereignty.”  ²

Following this decision, several XR US chapters and activists broke away from the main group, instead forming Extinction Rebellion America (XRA) in 2020, which adhered to the original “Three Demands” while rejecting the “Just Transition” demand adopted by XR US. In 2024, the XRA founder and president was interviewed by Vice Media where he claimed, “If we don’t solve climate change, Black lives don’t matter. If we don’t solve climate change now, LGBTQ don’t matter. If we don’t solve climate change right now, all of us together in one big group, the #MeToo movement doesn’t matter… [w]e don’t have time to argue about social justice.”  ²

Coalition Partnerships

Extinction Rebellion America was part of the Save Juliana Coalition formed in 2015 by environmentalist and left-of-center groups organized by left-of-center public litigation group Our Children’s Trust to support a lawsuit by plaintiffs asserting a “right” to a stable climate protected by the federal government.  ⁸ The lawsuit, filed in 2015 as Juliana v. United States, requested that the courts order the government to “phase out fossil fuel emissions and draw down excess atmospheric CO2.” At the request of the Biden administration Department of Justice, federal courts rejected the lawsuit before it could be fully litigated, ruling that the plaintiffs did not have standing to bring their claims. ⁸ In March 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the plaintiffs’ appeal. ⁸

XRA describes itself as an “affinity group” of the environmentalist protest group Declare Emergency, and its donation page notes that donations to XRA may support Declare Emergency’s work. ⁹

Funding

Extinction Rebellion America is funded largely by donations to its affiliated 501(c)(4) advocacy nonprofit XR Actions, Inc. ¹⁰

Between 2022 and 2024, XR Actions filed IRS Form 990-N “e-Postcard” returns as an organization that had received less than $50,000 in revenues that year. ¹¹

In 2021, it reported $59,661 in revenue and $29,360 in assets, which it listed as “Cash, savings, and investments.” ¹²