{"id":838215,"date":"2026-08-01T17:37:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T17:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/838215\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T17:37:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T17:37:20","slug":"weve-got-to-fight-back-energy-industry-urged-to-step-up-against-fossil-funded-disinformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/838215\/","title":{"rendered":"“We’ve got to fight back:” Energy industry urged to step up against fossil-funded disinformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Outgoing Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson wants to see the renewable energy industry get more active in the halls of government to fend off fossil fuel-funded disinformation.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a year since the senator launched the federal inquiry<\/a> that would start unveiling who is funding fake climate and energy news, and he urged the industry to play its \u201cimportant\u201d role in holding governments accountable to stay true to their promises to deal with mis- and disinformation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe industry you are trying to replace literally runs some of the parliaments of the world,\u201d Which-Wilson said at the Australian Clean Energy Summit this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, do you think you are at that level where you feel like you have that point of influence? And if not, why not? You have to think about how you get to that point.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery environmental problem in the world is ultimately a political problem because only politics and parliaments can solve them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would probably start with trying to hold politicians to account\u2026 and see the clean energy industry get a lot more involved in political lobbying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mis- and disinformation has devastated communities involved with renewable energy projects for years, from television news stations making things up<\/a> in stories about wind turbines and electric vehicles, to farmers being attacked<\/a> and ostracised<\/a> for wanting to host projects on land they own.<\/p>\n

Misinformation is the spread of false information, regardless of whether there is an intent to harm or mislead. But when an individual or organisation spreads misinformation with the intent to influence public opinion, this is known as disinformation.<\/p>\n

The inquiry delivered a report with 21 recommendations <\/a>in March which the federal government adopted but now needs to invest in to make happen, from better funding for research and independent media to wrestling with the algorithm.<\/p>\n

Whish-Wilson says the inquiry itself was a \u201cliving laboratory\u201d of how disinformation works, with multiple articles in News Corp media and 15,000 emails coming into his office from conservative lobby group Advance attacking it before submissions even began.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really quite fascinating to see how quickly the\u2026 denial machine kicked into gear,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think we then reached a point where they realised that this was being noticed by the committee, and social researchers all around the world were studying this process, and then things changed. It was quite interesting to see how it evolved.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

United front<\/p>\n

The US-based Atlas Network has been accused of funding anti-climate initiatives and like-minded think tanks around the world for decades, and is behind much of the organised opposition<\/a> to renewable energy and environmental initiatives in Australia as well, the inquiry found.<\/p>\n

Countering this wall of mis- and disinformation are individuals and groups who don\u2019t work together and often don\u2019t even know each other exist, Whish-Wilson says.<\/p>\n

He told Renew Economy the inquiry received hundreds of different submissions from all around the world, including across multiple universities, but many of them said they didn\u2019t know each other or even about other people\u2019s work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While governments need to take the lead against misinformation, a priority for industry and environmental groups is to come together, perhaps via a series of events or conferences, and identify a common goal.<\/p>\n

The clean energy industry needs to play a prominent role given it\u2019s feeling the brunt of misinformation and disinformation attacks, and given its ambition to replace coal and gas in the economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to understand that there are interests out there that are deliberately degrading our information environment, particularly around climate change,\u201d Whish-Wilson says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to come together and we\u2019ve got to fight back. To use Chris Barry\u2019s term, we need to fight an asymmetrical information response<\/a>, and we can do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

And how should the industry start fighting fire with fire?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Clean Energy Council spokesperson Chris O-Keefe had practical advice for developers worried about conservative media blowback on their projects: buy advertising in the papers and news outlets they\u2019re most worried about.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI am telling you, hand on heart, that if you advertise with a radio station or you advertise with a newspaper, it takes the sting out of the coverage. They might pretend it doesn\u2019t, but it absolutely does,\u201d he said at the summit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are on the cusp of a big project or a big milestone, look to your local newspaper and partner with them. Look to your local radio station and partner with the TV station, [set up] commercial partnerships with these guys. They are dying for money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: The renewable energy industry might also consider supporting news organisations such as Renew Economy. How many wind and solar developers out there have spent a single dollar supporting this web site\u2019s work over the past 15 years? Not many.<\/p>\n

See also: Wind project faces referral due to long distance objectors, citing impacts of a wind farm that doesn\u2019t exist<\/a><\/p>\n

To support independent media, and combat AI slop, you can click here to make a one off donation or become a regular supporter of Renew Economy.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rachel Williamson is a science and business journalist, who focuses on climate change-related health and environmental issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Outgoing Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson wants to see the renewable energy industry get more active in the halls…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":838216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[410624,64,63,128412,75,52676,128,49869],"class_list":["post-838215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-atlas-network","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-disinformation","tag-environment","tag-misinformation","tag-science","tag-senate-inquiry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/838216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}