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Ever get that feeling when someone tweets something so idiotic, it's hard to believe someone like that really exists? Turns out, they don't!

A major mining lobby group has just been linked to a fake Twitter army running a coordinated social media campaign against renewable energy.

Buzzfeed1 just revealed dozens of fake Twitter accounts set up to post anti-renewable rants in the wake of the South Australian storm. Seems their identities – like their facts – are completely made up, with phoney display pics and all.

And guess which two accounts they all link to?

  1. The cashed-up Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA (a pro-mining lobby group)
  2. A Bangladesh-based marketer who sells "forum posting, content writing… and so on" online

This is just the tip of the iceberg. The big polluter lobby spends millions every year trying to hold back the transition to renewable energy.2 As renewables become more and more affordable, corporations that profit from fossil fuels are desperately trying to tarnish the reputation of clean energy.

Don't let them get away with fighting dirty. Together we'll back real clean energy activists to take on the coal lobby's fake fan club.

  • Intensive media coaching and support to help local grassroots renewable defenders get their message across

  • Commission regular polling to remind politicians that, no matter what the fakers say, the majority of flesh-and-blood Australians are on the side of renewables

  • A sophisticated social media campaign, using hard evidence to debunk their lies in realtime



References:
[1] Mining Lobby Linked To Fake Twitter Army Co-Ordinating Against Renewable Energy, Buzzfeed, Mark Di Stefano, Oct 21 2016
[2] Australian oil and gas lobby spent millions advocating against climate action: report, Sydney Morning Herald, Tom Arup, April 12 2016