Outlaw Climate Lies - Before They Destroy Us

We’ve known for decades what’s driving climate change. We’ve known the physics, the math, the trajectory. And yet - here we are, hurtling toward catastrophe with our foot still on the fossil-fueled accelerator. Why?

Because while scientists were collecting data and warning us with peer-reviewed caution, bad actors were manufacturing doubt. And now that denialism has lost its scientific cover, the strategy has shifted: undermine solutions, discredit renewables, sow confusion, stall progress. This is not ignorance. This is sabotage.

The fossil fuel industry, backed by ideological think tanks and populist enablers, has waged a decades-long disinformation campaign. That campaign is still evolving—and getting nastier. From false claims about renewable energy causing blackouts to absurd conspiracy theories about wildfires, the aim is always the same: distract, delay, and deflect.

It’s no longer just a matter of science vs. skepticism. This is a fight for information integrity. And it’s time to draw a line.

Lying for profit should not be protected speech. It should be a criminal offense.

Let’s be clear: Science is complex. It’s often gray, not black and white. That’s what makes it honest. Scientists don’t pretend to know everything—they update their models, acknowledge uncertainty, and live with nuance. But climate lies are not nuance. They are deliberate falsehoods, engineered to serve short-term interests and derail global survival efforts.

We regulate false advertising.

We prosecute fraud.

Why not climate disinformation?

The UN is finally pushing back. Special Rapporteur Elisa Morgera and Secretary-General António Guterres have called for criminalising greenwashing and climate lies. Brazil is rallying nations behind a Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change. It's a long-overdue move, and every serious country should sign on.

There will be backlash, of course. Free speech! Censorship! Slippery slope! But let’s not pretend this is about healthy debate. This is about corporate propaganda disguised as opinion. It’s about bot farms distorting public perception. It’s about an industry that has known the truth since the 1970s — and lied anyway.

Enough is enough.

If we want democratic societies to make informed decisions, if we want emissions to fall fast enough to matter, if we want a future that’s livable, then we must stop tolerating the weaponisation of misinformation.

Truth is not a luxury. It is our last line of defense.

Let’s outlaw climate lies - before they destroy us all.

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