Quick takes:
- United for Clean Power looked like a grassroots movement of concerned environmentalists.
- It was actually a shell nonprofit used as cover to fund a dark money campaign to kill the Inflation Reduction Act.
- Social media makes it easier than ever for scammers to trick people.
- Don’t get duped. If you see something fishy online, contact Based in Climate Reality, a new group that fights disinformation.
Just as the Inflation Reduction Act gained momentum to pass the U.S. Senate in late July, a nonprofit called United for Clean Power launched a digital ad campaign calling on progressive members of the House of Representatives to “demand environmental justice or kill the reconciliation bill.”
But why would a clean power group be against the largest investment the U.S. has ever made in clean power?
“The messaging struck me as bizarre because no progressives were coming out against the IRA at that point,” says Environmental Defense Fund’s Lauren Guite who represents EDF in the Climate Action Against Disinformation Coalition, a global group of organizations united to fight misinformation about climate change.
Guite reached out to her coalition partners to find out if the group was legitimate. No one had ever heard of United for Clean Power.
“That was a red flag that these ads weren’t above…
