The town of Cochrane, Alberta voted to stay in the Partners for Climate Protection program despite intense pressure from KICLEI — an anti net-zero group using AI to convince thousands of local politicians across Canada to back out of climate initiatives.

Archived

In a symbolic reversal, the town of Cochrane, Ab., has voted to stay in a national net-zero initiative, despite being targeted by an AI-powered misinformation campaign.

“I don’t like the precedent this sets,” said the town’s mayor, Jeff Genung, at a council meeting Monday night. Genung was concerned that if Cochrane exited the program, it could be used as an example to reverse environmental policies in other communities.

The net-zero initiative, Partners for Climate Protection, is Canada’s flagship municipal environmental framework with over 500 members. It advises local governments on conducting emissions inventories, target-setting, action planning, implementation and monitoring.

[…]