How Climate Saboteurs Win By Discrediting The Fix—Carbon-Free Power
The science is settled, but sabotage continues—most recently with the U.S. Senate's passage of the president's mega-bill. This legislation rolls back clean energy incentives and fast-tracks fossil fuel leasing, directly undermining climate action. The goal is no longer to deny climate science outright—it's to promote defeatism and stall solutions.
Today's climate denialism is more insidious than the overt skepticism of the 1990s. Rather than refuting the science, it targets the solutions—blaming renewables for blackouts, price spikes, and reliability issues. Fossil fuel interests disguise their obstruction as free-market pragmatism. In reality, it's a calculated strategy to secure dominance in the energy economy.
The International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE) calls this strategy 'strategic disruption.' In its 2025 report, the panel writes: 'Powerful actors—including corporations, governments, and political parties—intentionally spread inaccurate or misleading narratives about anthropogenic climate change. These narratives circulate across digital, broadcast, and interpersonal communication channels. The result is a decline in public trust, diminished policy coordination, and a feedback loop between scientific denialism and political inaction.'
Five years ago, wind and solar enjoyed broad bipartisan support. That consensus has fractured. According to new Gallup and Pew polling, 79% of Republicans now say the United States should prioritize fossil fuels. Younger conservatives remain more favorable toward clean energy, while 86% of Democrats say the nation must accelerate renewable development.
Most Americans aren't immersed in the details of climate science—they're trying to make ends meet and plan for the future. But as the IPIE notes, fossil fuel interests and their allies—often paid actors, beneficiaries, or politicians—are waging increasingly advanced misinformation campaigns. The result? Real-world consequences.
These orchestrated efforts sow doubt not only about climate science but also about viable solutions. They falsely claim that renewables cause blackouts, destroy wildlife, or are economically infeasible. They target policymakers and deploy these narratives through social media, right-wing press, and industry-funded think tanks.
Fossil Fuel Dollars Fuel Political Messaging
A view of the US Capitol after the Senate passed the "Big Beautiful Bill Act" earlier in the day in ... More Washington, DC, on July 1, 2025. The Republican-led US Senate approved President Donald Trump's mammoth domestic policy bill July 1, 2024 by the narrowest of margins, despite misgivings over delivering deep welfare cuts and another $3 trillion in national debt. Republican leaders had struggled to corral support during a record 24-hour "vote-a-rama" amendment session on the Senate floor, as Democrats offered dozens of challenges to the most divisive aspects of the package. (Photo by Drew ANGERER / AFP) (Photo by DREW ANGERER/AFP via Getty Images)
Political partisans emphasize that wind and solar energy only function when weather conditions allow, necessitating backup from batteries or natural gas, which incurs additional costs. They blamed renewables for the recent Iberian Peninsula blackout—even though early analysis pointed to a grid infrastructure failure. Two significant power losses occurred at substations in southwestern Spain, causing a sudden drop in power supply and affecting the grid's voltage and frequency.
The IPIE report highlights the role of the oil and gas sector, which contributed $74 million to Donald Trump's 2024 campaign. Trump, in turn, has labeled clean energy laws from the Biden administration as the 'Green New Scam.'
Meanwhile, the Center for American Progress identifies 123 members of Congress who openly deny or cast doubt on human-caused climate change. Collectively, they've received $52 million from fossil fuel donors.
The Heritage Foundation still claims that 'the science is unsettled,' while continuing to oppose the Paris Agreement. It has also received millions from fossil fuel-related donors, including the Koch Foundation. According to Statista, the oil, gas, and coal industries spent $60 million lobbying the Republican Party in 2024.
And they're getting results. The new mega-bill not only cancels future clean energy incentives, but it also reclaims already-allocated funds for renewables. It's a fossil-first agenda wrapped in populist language.
Sen. Mike Crapo (R‑ID), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and a key architect of the bill, explained his rationale in a statement: 'We stop penalizing fossil fuels in favor of unreliable and expensive green energy, and instead support consistent energy sources, making energy affordable again.'
It's a message that resonates with fossil fuel donors, certain industry groups, and partisan media—none of whom openly deny climate science anymore. Instead, they target public perception, attack clean energy investments, and reframe climate solutions as economic threats.
That's precisely what the IPIE warns against.
'The integrity of climate information is under systemic attack—and this is not an accident,' says Sebastian Valenzuela, Chair of the IPIE's Scientific and Methodology Committee, in a statement. 'When trusted institutions—corporate, political, and media—become the engines of falsehood, they weaken our ability to act in the public interest.'
The Consensus Is Clear—But So Are the Risks of Delay
Las Vegas, NV - January 24: A worker secures mounting straps as construction continues with solar ... More panel installation at the Gemini solar project in Southern Nevada Las Vegas, NV. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Partisan messaging has given Republicans political cover, but that could backfire in red districts where clean energy jobs are booming. The 2026 midterms will offer a referendum. Climate progress can't survive if it's reversible every election cycle.
We are fighting not only over facts—but also over time. The Paris Agreement aims to limit global warming to at least 2 degrees Celsius, and ideally, to 1.5 degrees. That requires cutting global emissions by 45% by 2030, relative to 2010 levels. Most developed nations have pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2050—a goal that requires rapid growth in renewable energy and electric transportation.
There is good news: Yale research shows just 11% of Americans are hardline climate deniers. The University of Michigan places that number at 15%. A 2021 review in Environmental Research Letters found that 99.9% of peer-reviewed climate science papers agree that human activity is a primary driver of global warming. The IPCC, NASA, and NOAA echo that view.
Ignoring that consensus doesn't avoid a tipping point—it guarantees one. The longer we delay, the more extreme, expensive, and irreversible the consequences.
Climate denial has evolved from the fist-pounding rhetoric of the 1990s into something quieter but equally menacing: solutions aversion, which threatens the heartbeat of today's climate policy. If clean energy investments can be reversed with each new administration, long-term planning collapses. Private sector investment dries up. U.S. credibility in international climate talks diminishes.
No one disputes that fossil fuels propelled nations into the Industrial Age, providing wealth and employment worldwide. And by most standards, they will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The key now is to speed up the transition to the green energy economy, which offers sustainable energy and modern technologies at affordable prices. Witness the precipitous drop in renewable energy prices and energy storage, giving green fuels the inside track.
The IPIE fully grasps the energy transition, and it won't accept the Neo-climate denialism movement quietly—and it has allies in the scientific community who are also well-connected in intellectual and media circles. Its advice: strengthen climate regulations, crack down on greenwashing, and penalize those who spread misinformation. But the clock is ticking.
Even Elon Musk—who aligned himself with Trump in 2024—called the rollback bill 'utterly insane,' warning it could 'decimate the domestic clean energy sector.'
Today's denialism no longer questions the science. Instead, it weakens the solutions. With the support of influential donors, political figures, and media outlets, it threatens to overshadow common sense. If Americans want a livable climate, science alone won't be enough. We must expose the machinery invested in preserving the status quo—and confront the deliberate strategies that keep a carbon-free future just out of reach.
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