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Faking it on energy
Oct
04
2011
A union well-known for its aversion to green energy has been caught faking a grassroots campaign, attacking renewable energy while promoting the nuclear and coal industries in Ontario. As was revealed yesterday in a damning report from ...
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A union well-known for its aversion to green energy has been caught faking a grassroots campaign, attacking renewable energy while promoting the nuclear and coal industries in Ontario. As was revealed yesterday in a damning report from PostMedia News. the Ontario Power Workers’ Union paid a major PR firm to create numerous blogs and anonymous social media accounts questioning the viability of renewable energy, while promoting a 'diverse mix of energy sources' including nuclear and coal.
The practice of faking grassroots support for a cause is known as 'astroturfing', and it is an increasingly popular tactic used by the carbon lobby – oil and coal companies - to fight action on climate change. Such unethical tactics are currently being used by oil companies to support a tar sands pipeline in the U.S.
In the past year, you might have seen these bloggers, who did not identify themselves as working for a major PR firm, pretending to be ordinary citizens – posting on facebook, twitter, and in comment sections of newspapers. They often repeated stock phrases such as 'The sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow' or ‘Let's keep the lights on in Ontario', giving the false impression that public opinion was not in support of renewable energy.
The Ontario Power Workers’ Union memberships work in nuclear, coal, and large hydroelectric facilities, so it would make sense that they have a vested interested in protecting the status quo in our electricity sector. The transition to a distributed, smarter electricity sector which uses more renewable energy means a change. However, paying a PR firm to pretend that there is a real grassroots campaign supporting them is clearly unethical.
Unfortunately, astroturfing is something we have to keep watching for as we fight for real action on climate change.
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