California built its tradition of open government – including citizen boards that set rules for functions like automotive repair and security guard licensing – precisely to keep well-funded corporate interests in mind. Lobbyists and special interests are constantly conspiring to defeat the will of the majority. Now they’re able to do more damage by using artificial intelligence to simulate fake grassroots protests for clean air measures, and they’re covertly using the identities of real people to deceive regulators.
Last June, the South Coast Air Quality Management District received more than 20,000 comments opposing a pair of clean air rules that could have prevented 2,500 premature deaths and 10,000 new cases of asthma. 1st February Investigation by Los Angeles Times It turned out that those comments were submitted through CivicClick, a Washington-based AI-powered comment generation platform that was hosted by a local political consultant with ties to the natural gas industry. When the district’s cybersecurity team reached out to a small sample of commenters to verify their identities, most respondents said they had not submitted comments in their names.
Still, the flood of fake comments worked. These rules, strongly opposed by the natural gas industry, which the district had already made almost negligible, were ultimately rejected by the board – apparently overwhelmed by a flood of mock opposition to the mildest attempt to limit pollution from gas-burning appliances.
This campaign in Southern California was not an isolated incident. a fresh Investigation by the San Francisco Chronicle It was also revealed that a Udyog Morcha Group used say4A platform that advertises the use of AI to submit dozens of comments from the fossil fuel industry in an effort to weaken and delay clean air rules in the Bay Area. The scheme was revealed when 10 residents, whose identities were used on these emails, said they did not send them at all, and described the messages as “fake”.
In both cases, the organizations submitted emails and comments to regulators using the identities of real people without their knowledge or consent. This playbook has been employed in other states: CivicClick was used by fossil fuel companies to support a gas-pipeline-expansion project. North Carolina Last year. When elected officials reached out to some respondents to verify the messages, some constituents said they had no knowledge of emails sent in their name.
The campaign opposing the South Coast’s clean air rules was led by one of the state’s most powerful lobbying firms. Its customer list includes SoCalGas’ parent company Sempra, which had opposed clean air standards that would have encouraged the sale of pollution-free heat pumps and jeopardized the utility’s business.
The industry-leading group using AI to undermine clean air rules in the Bay Area, Common Sense Alliancealso has ties to fossil fuel companies. The Common Sense Coalition is a project of the Bay Area Council, a local business group that includes members such as the Western States Petroleum Association, Chevron, Martinez Refining Co. and Phillips 66.
The question of whether fossil fuel interests have funded astroturf AI campaigns to defeat clean air rules must be answered through a thorough investigation, including whether the campaigns have committed fraud and identity theft.
Californians deserve to know what is happening – how AI was used, where lobbyists got the names and addresses associated with robo-messages, and who paid for the disinformation campaigns. Most worryingly, the identities of actual residents are being used – without their knowledge or consent – to protest life-saving clean air standards.
Top law enforcement officials should investigate – Including Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, Los Angeles District. Atty. Nathan Hochman and the San Francisco District. Atty. Brooke Jenkins. If the law is not clear enough to support prosecution when using a person’s name in a scheme to thwart the action of a public agency, then the law needs to be tightened – and it is. Legislation, Senate bSick 1159, Aim to do so.
If this sounds like a particular issue, I can assure you that it is not. I have spent 17 years at the helm of the California Air Resources Board, and I am deeply troubled by the potential co-optation of public input processes using fraud through automated tools. Gathering public input is fundamental to the legitimacy of regulatory agencies.
We have heard frequently from individuals or business organizations concerned about the cost or burden of the proposed regulation, and we have worked hard to understand and craft our rules so we can make them as streamlined and cost-effective as possible, while still making progress toward reducing air and climate harms from a wide range of devices and activities.
The destruction of meaningful public input through deception is not just an environmental issue; This is a democracy issue – and it demands immediate attention and accountability. California must draw the line to protect our democratic institutions.
Mary Nichols was chair of the California Air Resources Board, where she held the attorney’s seat. She is a distinguished attorney at the Emmett Institute on Climate and Sustainability at UCLA Law School.
