By Cincade Drudge
Part of the challenge of protecting our planet today is not just the very real effects of the changing climate itself, but the flood of false and misleading information regarding it.
Environmental disinformation, which is the intentional effort to mislead the public about environmental issues, has become one of the biggest barriers to meaningful action. It often comes from industries or political actors with a financial stake in delaying change.
Climate misinformation has surged in recent years, with multiple studies showing that misleading posts from unreliable sources often attract two to three times more engagement than accurate information on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
We’ve seen this playbook of purposeful falsehoods before. Tobacco companies once funded doubt about the dangers of smoking, delaying public health reforms and costing countless lives.
Take the myth of plastic recycling. For decades, the plastics industry has promoted recycling as a solution to environmental damage caused by plastic waste, even though only about 5% of plastic in the U.S. is actually recycled.
The result? People blame themselves for not recycling enough instead of asking why so much single-use plastic is produced in the first place.
Or consider “clean coal.” Despite the name, coal remains one of the dirtiest energy sources on Earth, responsible for air pollution and millions of dollars in public health costs. Marketing it as “clean” allows companies to appear responsible while avoiding meaningful reform.
Perhaps most crucially, the fossil fuel industry has taken this same strategy to a global scale, using misinformation to question the reality of climate change and the science behind it. The goal is the same across industries: to confuse, divide, and stall progress.
Why should you care? Because disinformation doesn’t only distort the debate around climate change, it changes real material outcomes. When the public is unsure what to believe, it’s easier for policymakers to do nothing.
Every year that passes without decisive climate action adds to the cost, environmentally, economically, and socially. Before long, we will find ourselves in a world of hurt, with a destroyed climate and a population too steeped in disinformation to do anything about it.
These stories are not isolated; they form a pattern of deception that benefits a few while harming many. And now, with social media, this misinformation spreads faster than ever.
Influencers, podcasts, and partisan outlets amplify misleading claims, often without fact-checking or accountability. Consider this: eight of the top 10 online shows are spreading climate misinformation.
So what can be done? Transparency would be a start. When corporations, politicians, and media outlets are required to disclose who funds their messages, the public can make informed decisions about credibility.
Media literacy is another key step: teaching people how to recognize biased sources and understand how scientific consensus is built.
This scientific consensus concept leads to another important point: Scientists, too, must meet the public halfway by communicating clearly and openly, without the technical jargon that can alienate audiences.
The need for scientific clarity doesn’t erase the blame we as individuals face. We must take steps (no matter how small) toward reaching climate accuracy via verifying info before sharing, supporting credible journalism, and challenging falsehoods when we see them.
The battle for truth is part of the fight for a livable planet. If we allow disinformation to shape public understanding, the consequences will be very real.
Take voting, for example; U.S. voters’ opinion on climate change has been found to have swayed enough voters in 2020 to account for a 3% swing in the popular vote. This shift, if reversed by disinformation, could have switched the winner of the presidential election, dramatically shifting U.S. Climate policy.
This shows that holding powerful actors accountable and demanding honesty in environmental communication isn’t optional; it’s vital to securing a bright future for both us and hopefully those long after us. We can’t allow misinformation to affect the outcomes of our elections, our policies, or our future.
If you encounter misleading environmental claims or wish to learn how to identify them, consider using resources such as Science Feedback, Media Bias/Fact Check, and Hot Air, each of which provides accessible tools for fact-checking and misinformation reporting.
We all have a role in protecting not just our environment, but the truth that helps us defend it.
Cincade Drudge is a student journalist at Purdue University Fort Wayne and a Waterfield Environmental Intern at the Environmental Resources Center on campus.