| | | | |  | | By Arianna Skibell | | Presented by |  | | | |  An unattached network cable hangs in the air near a server in Washington. | Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images | Human fact-checkers can’t keep up with the spread of false information on social media. But maybe artificial intelligence can. A team of Australian and British researchers is training an AI model to combat the spread of misleading claims about climate change, write Francisco “A.J.” Camacho and Scott Waldman. The move could help repurpose AI from an agent of misinformation to a policing force. But it’s a tall order: According to one third-party tracker, fake news websites that use AI have ballooned in recent months. Compounding the problem, social media giants such as Facebook and X have weakened their misinformation safeguards. Misleading claims about climate change are particularly hard to weed out. Fossil fuel proponents and conservative groups have spent decades sowing public confusion around climate science by using false, misleading or cherry-picked research. YouTube channels that spread climate misinformation have also adopted a seemingly nuanced stance that does not reject the science outright but rather distorts and downplays it, according to Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, who is helping with the research project. “They've moved on from rejecting climate change to accepting climate change but saying that there is no hope, the solutions don't work, and, besides, the scientists don't really understand it,” Ahmed told A.J. and Scott. To train the AI model, known as CARDS, researchers first went straight to the internet’s largest source of climate misinformation: climate denial blogs and conservative think tanks. They later incorporated a database of millions of climate change-related X posts. Now, they are trying to solve what researchers call “the Holy Grail of fact-checking.” “Which is detecting and debunking misinformation in real time,” said John Cook, a senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne who co-developed the AI model. Cook and his colleagues’ AI model has so far managed to detect climate misinformation roughly 90 percent of the time — a finding slated for peer review and publication later this year. But Cook says that’s not good enough. CARDS, he said, would benefit from further tinkering before real-time automated use on digital platforms. “You don't want a self-driving car that's 90 percent accurate,” he said.
| | | It's Tuesday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@eenews.net.
| | | | A message from Southern Environmental Law Center: Burning trees for energy devastates forests, harms nearby communities, which are disproportionately Black and low-income, and makes climate change worse. An upcoming Treasury Department decision on clean energy tax credits for the biomass industry could undermine President Biden’s climate agenda and environmental justice commitment. Redirecting tax credits to truly clean energy industries like solar, wind, and storage will accelerate our energy transition, combat climate change, and create stable jobs. Learn more here. | | | | | | Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Doug Palmer breaks down how a dispute between China and the U.S. over clean energy could upend the World Trade Organization.
| | | | A message from Southern Environmental Law Center:   | | | | | | | 
Shell CEO Wael Sawan expressed support for President Joe Biden's climate agenda. | Kamran Jebreili/AP | Shell CEO backs Biden’s climate law
President Joe Biden’s climate agenda got a surprise endorsement Tuesday from Wael Sawan, the leader of one of the world’s largest oil companies, writes Corbin Hiar. Biden's climate laws “seem to be working in terms of attracting a significant amount of capital in different states, whether it’s a red or blue state,” Shell’s chief executive said at an event hosted by a centrist think tank. Energy demand is skyrocketing. Is the U.S. ready?
The amount of energy the country needs to operate is expected to surge in coming years. In fact, the nation’s largest grid operator may have to double its power plant output by 2040 to meet the growing demand for power, writes Peter Behr. Along with factories and electric vehicles, energy-intensive data centers are a key driver in the expected growth. The rise of artificial intelligence-fused data centers is forcing states to weigh whether the boon to property taxes is worth the drain on the electrical grid, writes Adam Aton. Many utilities are responding with proposals to burn more fossil fuels. In Texas, for example, power producers are proposing a suite of new natural gas plants, aided by $5 billion in state-funded, low-interest loans to support generation of the fuel, writes Jason Plautz. Plus, energy experts say the most state-of-the art technology needed to meet rising electricity consumption with clean power is struggling to get a foothold in the U.S., Peter writes. Inside von der Leyen’s secret climate crusade
Karl Mathiesen took a deep dive into why Ursula von der Leyen launched her campaign for a second term as president of the European Commission without mentioning one the defining achievements of her first term: the world’s only continent-scale package of climate laws, known as the European Green Deal.
| | Campaigning: A climate group with ties to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is running TV ads in Wisconsin and Michigan playing up Biden's clean energy record. Speaking of clean energy: Solar power is surging, but U.S. wind is in trouble.
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Air conditioner units sit in windows of an apartment building in Washington. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images | Longer and hotter summers are increasing the cost of cooling homes, threatening to leave low-income people unable to afford air conditioning as temperatures skyrocket because of climate change. Days before the European election, China is brandishing both carrot and stick in an attempt to stop Brussels from imposing duties on electric cars made in China. Once-pristine waterways in Alaska are turning orange, and a new study says climate change is likely to blame. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.
| | | | JOIN US ON 6/12 FOR A TALK ON THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY: As air travel soars again, policymakers and airlines are grappling with a series of contemporary challenges to the industry's future. Join POLITICO on June 12 for a topical and timely conversation with government leaders and aviation stakeholders about the state of the airline industry. From what passengers want to what airlines need amid the high demand for air traffic, workers and technology solutions. What can Washington do to ensure passengers and providers are equipped to fly right? REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | | A message from Southern Environmental Law Center: Burning trees for energy devastates forests, harms the health of nearby communities, which are disproportionately Black and low-income, and makes climate change worse. An upcoming Treasury Department decision on whether the biomass industry should receive clean energy tax credits could significantly undermine President Biden’s climate agenda and environmental justice commitment. Ensuring tax credits go toward truly clean energy industries, such as solar, wind and storage will accelerate our energy transition, combat climate change and create stable jobs. Learn more here. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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