In late 2023, the corporate world was buzzing with the utopian promise of AI – particularly regarding the technology’s impacts on the environment.
From today’s vantage point, some of the corporate claims that have been making the rounds for some time now seem patently absurd: Google insisted While AI had the potential to “reduce 5-10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions” Microsoft excited The new technology will “accelerate the discovery and development of sustainability solutions.” Even academics played along. Jim Bellingham of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Assured Autonomy claimed so “AI-powered robots” and satellites will form part of the system to help “reduce carbon released into the atmosphere.”
So far, the reality has shown quite the opposite. are not power demands Data centers are supercharging our carbon emissions, but the technology is now being used to actively oppose climate regulations.
According to new reporting From Los Angeles TimesAn eco-friendly initiative to phase out the use of gas-powered appliances in Southern California failed due to a campaign that weaponized a suite of AI software. The regulation, proposed by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), would phase out home water heaters and furnaces powered by natural gas, because part of an effort Limiting emissions of smog-causing nitrogen oxides.
As the initiative moved through AQMD’s board in the summer of 2025, the agency was inundated with thousands of organic emails voicing opposition to the rules. In form of LA Times Of note, the flood of angry public comments got a significant boost from CiviClick, an AI platform that bills itself as “disruptive digital advocacy software.”
According to records requests, more than 20,000 public comments directed at AQMD’s initiative were collected through CiviClick.
Although it is unclear where AI was deployed in the campaign, CiviClick claims number of solutions Bundled as “Grassroots Advocacy Software”. These include auto-filled webforms as well as video and photo messages to elected officials. Most importantly, CiviClick advertises an “AI powered automated message generator,” which comes with “auto-randomizing” messaging, “unlimited subject lines and message bodies,” and “smart targeting capabilities.”
In the face of such widespread public opposition – or what it appeared to be at the time – the AQMD board 7-5 votes were cast To reject a measure that would have gradually raised the cost of gas-fired appliances through small surcharges.
The mastermind of the email campaign, Matt Klink, even said that CivicClick made the “ultimate difference” in failing environmental safeguards.
“We did two separate rounds of outreach, and they quickly met the goals in both rounds,” Klink told the political consulting publication. Campaigns and elections in a sponsored interview. “AQMD staff are not used to receiving thousands of emails, so this (CivicClick) made a big difference in turning the situation around.”
Although Klink claimed that CivicClick was simply an email tool used to connect voters en masse to AQMD staff, an investigation revealed otherwise. In form of LA Times Note, at least three people contacted later said they were not aware that CiviClick had sent comments to AQMD on their behalf.
As AQMD sources told the newspaper, the attack certainly had an impact on the board’s decision, which in turn played into the hands of the gas industry. (Which, for its part, was fighting a legal battle Against the Environment Agency from December 2024.)
As one employee said LA TimesThe general amount of public comments per agenda item can be counted on fingers.
In particular, Klink refused to tell LA Times Who funded the CiviClick campaign. His public affairs firm, Clink Campaign, is a partner in California Strategies, one of the largest lobbying firms in the state, the paper notes. Its clients include corporate landlord conglomerates Energy Group and Fortune 500 energy company Sempra, owner of the giant Southern California Gas Company.
While astroturfing is nothing new in American politics, AI-powered astroturfing marks an ominous rise. In addition to signaling a terrible turning point for civic participation, it opens a tremendous avenue for political campaigning across America. As long as AI can manufacture thousands of components on demand, corporate interests no longer need the pretense of democracy – they can simply rent it.
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