Defend Our Future is an environmentalist youth-activist organization which was acquired by the Climate Action Campaign (CAC) in 2024 from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). ¹ It trains college students to be campus ambassadors who organize, advocate, and educate others about climate change and environmentalist policy and meet with legislators and other community leaders to push for climate action. ^{2  3}

Background

Defend Our Future is a left-wing environmental organization that encourages young people to take action on climate change. It advocates “ambitious federal action to address the climate crises” by supporting clean energy policies, climate justice, and sustainable solutions. ²  It focuses on educating and mobilizing young people to push for federal and local climate policies. ⁴

Defend Our Future was launched by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) in 2014 as its youth advocacy arm with assistance from political consulting firm 270 Strategies. ⁵ EDF is a large environmental nonprofit organization with 2024 revenues of over $298 million ⁶ funded by left-wing donors such as the MacArthur Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation. ^{7  8}

Defend Our Future’s first major initiative was a pledge drive in Colorado during the 2014 election cycle, where over 100,000 young voters pledged to vote on climate action. As part of the campaign it formed partnerships with OurTime.org, Protect Our Winters, REVERB, Rock the Vote, and Voto Latino to encourage the youth vote. ⁹

In August 2024 Defend Our Future was acquired by the Climate Action Campaign (CAC), a broader environmentalist coalition pushing for federal climate action. CAC’s 2024 revenues were under $1 million with $85,000 in government grants and grants from several large donors including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego, and the San Diego Foundation. CAC acquired Defend Our Future’s assets but kept its campus organizing program under its original brand to be its youth mobilization arm. EDF is a founding member of the Climate Action Campaign. ^{10  1}

Climate Action Campaign is a coalition of several large climate change and environmental activist organizations fighting for federal policy change to address climate change. ¹¹ Coalition members include EDF, Earthjustice, the Center for American Progress, Environment America, the League of Conservation Voters, the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the U.S. Climate Action Network, and WE ACT for Environmental Justice. ¹²

Work Areas

Defend Our Future focuses on engaging youth leadership in environmentalist advocacy. It offers youth leadership training to create campus ambassadors, and collaborates with student governments, artists, athletes, and businesses to participate in climate advocacy. ^{4  2}

The Defend Our Future Campus Ambassador Training program is a leadership and advocacy initiative to organize college students on campuses. The training includes topics such as coalition building, recruiting volunteers, social media content creation, hosting events, legislative priorities, and meeting with lawmakers. ¹³

Defend Our Future participates in many events supporting environmentalism. In October 2023, it partnered with Earthjustice, the Sierra Club, Earthworks, and GreenLatinos on a webinar on the dangers of methane. ¹⁴ Its Defend Our Beer events included speakers from local breweries discussing how climate change is impacting their industry. ¹⁵

Advocacy

In November 2023 Defend Our Future attended the Conference of Youth in Dubai which is part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the UN COP28 climate event in December 2023. ¹⁶

In February 2024 Defend Our Future attended the first public meeting of the National Environmental Youth Advisory Council which was established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2023 during the Biden administration. It was created to allow youth to provide recommendations to the EPA on environmental issues that the administration and its allies viewed as critical to youth communities. ^{17  18}

Defend Our Future was one of over 400 groups that signed an open letter publicly supporting Greenpeace’s actions during violent protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 and 2017. Greenpeace was found civilly liable in 2025 for its role in delaying the pipeline’s construction and causing billions of dollars in damage. Other signatories included civil disobedience and protest groups such as the Sunrise Movement, Extinction Rebellion, Community Movement Builders, Honor the Earth, and Direct Action Everywhere, and large left-wing organizations such as the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Tides Center, the Service Employees International Union, and the American Federation of Teachers. ^{19  20}

In October 2025 Defend Our Future joined the “No Kings” protests against the second Trump administration which claimed that the administration was implementing antidemocratic policies and attacking the climate, human health, and progressive communities. The protests which took place in June and October of 2025 were large protests organized primarily by liberal organizations including the 50501 Movement, Indivisible, and MoveOn ^{21  22}

Leadership

Marjorie Alt is the Climate Action Campaign director. She led several national environmentalist groups before joining the Climate Action Campaign. She was executive director of Environment America, executive director of U.S. Public Interest Research Group (US-PIRG), and associate director of the Fund for the Public Interest. ²³

1. “Defend Our Future Acquired by Climate Action Campaign.” Climate Action Campaign. August 15, 2024. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.actonclimate.com/post/defend-our-future-acquired-by-climate-action-campaign/
2. “Defend Our Future.” Climate Action Campaign. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.actonclimate.com/defendourfuture/
3. LinkedIn – Saiarchana D. Posted January 2023. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/saiarchana-darira_are-you-a-student-at-arizona-state-university-activity-6892206283500400640-pZr1/
4. “Defend Our Future.” Ramlink. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://ramlink.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/defendourfuture
5. “Our Work: Defend Our Future.” 270 Strategies. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://270strategies.com/our-work/defend-our-future/
6. Environmental Defense Fund. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990 – Part I.) 2024
7. “Environmental Defense Fund.” MacArthur Foundation. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.macfound.org/grantee/environmental-defense-fund-1070/
8. “Environmental Defense Fund.” Walton Family Foundation – Grants Database. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/grants-database?q=environmental+defense+fund&s=1
9. “100,000 Pledge to Vote for Climate Action.” Environmental Defense Fund. October 21, 2014. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.edf.org/media/100000-pledge-vote-climate-action
10. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer search. “Results for 47-2398562.” Accessed December 5, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/full_text_search?sort=best&form%5B%5D=IRS990ScheduleI&year%5B%5D=2024&q=47-2398562&submit=Apply
11. Climate Action Campaign homepage. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.actonclimate.com/
12. “Organizations.” Climate Action Campaign. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.actonclimate.com/the-coalition/
13. Facebook – Defend Our Future. Posted January 6, 2022. Accessed December 5, 2025. “Defend Our Future.” Climate Action Campaign. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/defendourfuturechallenge
14. Facebook – Defend Our Future. Posted October 5, 2023. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/defendourfuturechallenge
15. “Defend Our Beer.” Climate Action Campaign – Defend Our Future. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.actonclimate.com/defend-our-future-about/#block-index-2
16. Facebook – Defend Our Future. Posted December 13, 2023. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/defendourfuturechallenge
17. Facebook – Defend Our Future. Posted February 29, 2024. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/defendourfuturechallenge
18. “National Environmental Youth Advisory Council (NEYAC).” United States Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.epa.gov/faca/national-environmental-youth-advisory-council-neyac
19. Robert Stilson. “Greenpeace, nonprofits, and illegal protests.” Capital Research Center. October 20, 2025. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://capitalresearch.org/article/greenpeace-nonprofits-and-illegal-protests/
20. “Open Letter to Energy Transfer.” Greenpeace. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/energy-transfer-open-letter/
21. Facebook – Defend Our Future. Posted October 22, 2025. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/defendourfuturechallenge
22. “” No Kings” protests. Britannica. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.britannica.com/event/No-Kings-protests
23. LinkedIn – Margie Alt Accessed December 5, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/margie-alt-4110756/