--- title: Fuelling Populism description: Discover Greenpeace Canada's investigation, Manufacturing Petro-Populism, uncovering the covert network of front groups and fossil fuel industry backing behind oil and gas advocacy in Canada. image: https://act.greenpeace.ca/hubfs/image-Oct-08-2026-02-52-10-1126-AM.png --- ![Greenpeace Logo](https://act.greenpeace.ca/hubfs/raw_assets/public/GPCA-2026/landing_page_2026/assests/gp-logo%20copy.svg) - Methodology - The Funder - The Players - Media Hub [EN](https://act.greenpeace.ca/en-ca/fuelling-populism) / [FR](https://act.greenpeace.ca/fr-ca/attiserlepopulisme) ## We found a coordinated operation of over thirty pro-oil front groups, think tanks, companies, charities, and advocacy organizations discreetly operating under one name: Energy In Action They work together **to shape what Canadians like you** believe about energy, climate, and how it impacts your day-to-day life. The reach of their campaigns can impact everyday life, touching everything from your energy costs, your children’s classrooms, and damage to ecosystems and communities. Fossil fuel disinformation in Canada isn't by accident, and we've discovered some of the ways it's coordinated. Using open-source intelligence (OSINT), we analyzed a shadowy online platform that connects this network, **identifying members that meet in secret and share funding.** They've reached Canadians across many provinces, demographics, and platforms with one main goal: to convince you that fossil fuels are necessary, inevitable, and good for us **(hint: they're not)** ## The Network: Who Are They? Fossil fuel propaganda and disinformation **isn’t new.** It’s been active worldwide for decades to benefit the oil and gas industry, **at the expense of everyone and everything else.** What we found, however, is a coordinated network built specifically to target Canadians and shape our society’s views about energy. ![Screenshot 2026-09-22 at 5.10.24 PM-1](https://act.greenpeace.ca/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-09-22%20at%205.10.24%20PM-1.png) ![Screenshot 2026-09-22 at 5.08.53 PM-1](https://act.greenpeace.ca/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-09-22%20at%205.08.53%20PM-1.png) ![Screenshot 2026-09-22 at 5.11.45 PM](https://act.greenpeace.ca/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-09-22%20at%205.11.45%20PM.png) Big Oil. Bigger influence. This collective operates in plain sight behind neutral-sounding names. #### Who are some members of the EIA? *At the centre of this investigation is a network of over thirty distinct pro-oil front groups and organizations that operate across climate, energy, and public policy spaces.* *Twice a year, these groups meet in person to report back on campaign outcomes to their funders in these closed-door meetings and coordinate their pro-oil propaganda, hosted at Calgary Petroleum Club.* *Canada Action, a fossil fuel advocacy group that ran millions of ad impressions while presenting itself as a “grassroots” organization.* *Debunk Inc, a media production company that aims to “uncover the facts” and “challenge misinformation” using email campaigns and social media content.* *Fraser Institute, a registered charity that presents itself as an “independent think tank.”’ Their internal funder presentations show plans to introduce pro-fossil fuel perspectives into Canadian high school classrooms.* *Canada Powered by Women, which describes itself as a “non-partisan, non-profit organization" with board members and advisors drawn directly from Canada’s largest oil companies like Cenovus Energy, TC Energy, Suncor and Enbridge.* *Center for North American Prosperity and Security (CNAPS), a project of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute think tank. It publishes reports highlighting US-Canada energy integration on natural gas markets and is the only Canadian think tank that has a physical office in Washington D.C. Did someone say influence?* *Resource Works, a B.C.-based group that coordinated directly with another network member, Energy United, to target environmental organizations, Indigenous communities, and journalists.* *Avatar Innovation, a venture platform for the energy industry that seems to coordinate the broader network’s connection with its funders, and launched a “Gen-Z new-media strategy” involving influencers.* Click to expand #### What are they doing? *They want you to believe that climate change is ideological, that fossil fuels are the only path to a prosperous Canada, and that anyone that says otherwise is a threat to your way of life. **None of it is true.*** *The EIA network spreads oil and gas industry interests and influence by manipulating public conversations at scale. Their oil industry propaganda says natural gas is sustainable, and renewables don’t work. Meanwhile, it drives up everyday energy costs for Canadians and causes irreversible damage to ecosystems and communities, including Indigenous communities whose identities and voices are being used to manufacture consent.* *For the first time in history, record-breaking solar and wind deployment led to renewable energy exceeding and eating into the market share of fossil fuels. National stability and true prosperity is actually built on clean innovation, not going back to a dirty past.* Click to expand #### How are they doing this? ***Closed-door meetings. Unknown funding. A low-profile digital presence.*** *Internal records suggest this is how the network operates.* ***Closed-door** funder meetings: These aren’t networking events, but closer to what many of us might be familiar with: performance reviews. Evidence recovered by Greenpeace Canada investigators from the EIA platform included presentation decks, video recaps, and event agendas documenting sessions as recent as January 2026 and July 2025.* *One of the recap videos from the session in July 2025 proudly stated that member organizations “reached over 100 million people, achieved over 50 million monthly impressions, appeared on television radio, newspapers and podcasts.”* ***Unknown funding**: Internal materials suggest that the unknown CEP group of funders funds and supports member organizations, without identifying the main backers of EIA.* ***Low-profile** digital presence: Greenpeace Canada investigators found a dedicated, shadowy hub: [energy-in-action.com](http://energy-in-action.com/). The EIA network has a password protected platform where members can host profile pages, upload campaign materials, and share performance data, possibly with their funders. Their subpages and files were publicly accessible, requiring no access credentials.* *They also operate through media firms and social media platforms/partnerships. In this case, Avatar Innovation partnered with a dubious media company to weave in pro-oil content strategically across local, inconspicuous British Columbia-based social media accounts, without disclosing that relationship to audiences.* *Read more about how we found it [here](https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-canada-stateless/2026/10/1bb43ebb-greenpeace_manufacturingpetropopulism_oct2026.pdf).* Click to expand ## Methodology ### How we figured it out... **No tips, no whistleblowers.** We followed loose threads using open-source intelligence until the whole network unravelled. We identified the Energy in Action (EIA) platform using open-source investigative techniques.   By running a backlink analysis on Debunk Inc.’s pages, we found a lead. Like a paper trail, it traced which external sites link to any given page – and showed a campaign page hosted at [energy-in-action.com/debunk](http://energy-in-action.com/debunk). The page, named “[Debunk (copy)](https://archive.ph/El179)”, had obvious signs of a rushed web page construction, first of many clues.   We noted the EIA homepage was password-protected, but anyone can review its HTML source code. Looking at the source code suggested a suspicious sign: Its social media handles linked to Indigenous Resource Network (IRN), a separate entity that turned out to be another EIA network member. We took it a step further: Adding “/indigenousresourcenetwork” to the main domain pointed to another member profile similar to Debunk Inc. We manually tested standard URL paths and discovered a site search function, with many pages returning as public.   Funders meetings recaps, internal presentations, performance dashboards, campaign strategy documents: The more we looked, the more we saw that there were dozens of groups involved in what appears to be manufacturing the illusion of consensus.   Read more about how we found the rest [here.](https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-canada-stateless/2026/10/1bb43ebb-greenpeace_manufacturingpetropopulism_oct2026.pdf) Click to expand 🔍 ## The Funder The Energy In Action (EIA) network shares a digital platform and gets into a room on a biannual basis with **the Canadian Energy Prosperity (CEP) group of funders.** Our investigation found two formal funder sessions held on July 2, 2025 and January 19, 2026 at Calgary’s Petroleum Club. Presentation decks, video recaps, and other materials we found seem to play a big role in how they keep funders informed and aligned across the network. During these sessions, members gave performance updates and showed off their fossil fuel advocacy work to their likely bankrollers. [Read the full report here](https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-canada-stateless/2026/10/1bb43ebb-greenpeace_manufacturingpetropopulism_oct2026.pdf) ## What they did with the money ### Grassroots? Let's check the funding. We found an initial version of EIA that originated from a Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) outreach program, and former CAPP executives now lead several EIA network organizations. These shared leaders, messaging, and previous connections suggest a link to the oil and gas industry. Financial disclosures also show that Cenovus Energy increased its donations to seven EIA network members between 2021 and 2025. The full extent of industry support to EIA members or possible connections with the Canadian Energy Prosperity group of funders remains unknown. [Read the full report here](https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-canada-stateless/2026/10/1bb43ebb-greenpeace_manufacturingpetropopulism_oct2026.pdf) ## Companies, Non-profits, and groups ### How the players work together... ![newplot](https://act.greenpeace.ca/hubfs/newplot.png) The thinkers Groups like Fraser Institute, Macdonald-Laurier Institute, Montreal Economic Institute, Frontier Centre for Public Policy showcase academic credibility and citable research that other network members amplify. The advocates: Canada Action, Energy United, Resource Works, Canadians for Affordable Energy produce high-volume shareable online content, converting digital pressure into political pressure. The identity groups Canada Powered by Women, Indigenous Resource Network, Young Canadians for Resources potentially aim to convey diverse community support across genders, ethnicities, and age demographics. The media Debunk Inc, Western Standard, The News Forum, Climate Discussion Nexus appear to amplify pro-industry narratives under the guise of independent journalism and fact-checking. The curriculum Switch Classroom, Fraser Institute Education Initiative, Geologic (SEMEC program) embed pro-fossil fuel perspectives into school curriculum and university campuses. The coordinators Avatar Innovation appears to be coordinating the broader network, managing funder relationships and operating undisclosed social media campaigns that target Canadians. ## What can we do? **Canadians deserve to know** who is funding the content in their feeds, in their children’s classrooms, and aiming to influence day-to-day conversations with community members. The identification of this network confirms something the fossil fuel industry has always known, but works hard to deny: The pro-fossil fuel public conversation around Canadian energy is not always organic. **Manufactured. Funded. Coordinated. Aimed straight at you.**  Energy In Action seems to bet big on convincing you fossil fuels are the future, even though the facts – and climate – say otherwise. Other countries are proving a cleaner path forward is already here. The question is, who’s paying for that gamble? Greenpeace Canada demands that the EIA network immediately disclose their funding sources, financial ties, and advertising partnerships. Canadians deserve to know how anti-green disinformation has a direct impact on their wallets, loved ones, and future. ### FAQs: Isn’t this just groups exercising free speech? A: Everyone has the right to participate in public debate. This investigation isn't about restricting expression, it's about transparency. Canadians have a right to know about the coordination and funding of groups that explicitly say they want to influence Canadian public opinion about something as vital as energy. How was this information obtained? A: Entirely through publicly accessible sources and open-source investigative techniques. We didn't bypass passwords and we didn't hack any systems. The information was available to anyone who knew where to look. Are you accusing every group here of spreading dis/misinformation? A: No. Organizations in the network play different roles. Our report documents evidence of coordination and specifically highlights documented instances of climate denial or misleading claims, in addition to influence campaigns. What is the goal of this report? A: Our goal is simple: total transparency. We are calling on the Energy in Action network to disclose its financial ties to the Canadian Energy Prosperity group of funders. We also aim to help Canadians recognize how public opinion in relation to energy conversation can be manipulated. Sign-up to follow our investigations, and join the conversation online if you're done being misled about the climate, energy costs, and future. ## Media Hub ### Stay informed on the latest investigations. Learn to spot disinformation. 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