SAN FRANCISCO-Bay Area advocates are calling on California Attorney General Rob Bonta and San Francisco, Alameda County, and Santa Clara County District Attorneys Brooke Jenkins, Ursula Jones Dickson, and Jeff Rosen investigate an AI-powered astroturf campaign that allegedly used real residents' personal information to send fake emails to Bay Area Air District board members - without their knowledge or consent.

The campaign was run by the Common Sense Coalition, an industry association backed by the Bay Area Council - a powerful business group whose membership includes the Western States Petroleum Association, Chevron, Martinez Refinery Company, and Phillips 66. The coalition used an AI-powered platform called Speak4to submit public comments to send emails targeting the Bay Area Air District as it weighs multiple critical standards to reduce toxic air pollution across nine Bay Area counties.

"People are discovering that emails were sent to lawmakers in their names - emails they never wrote and never authorized, " said Antonio Díaz, Executive Director at PODER. "If companies or front groups are using AI-integrated software to impersonate constituents and flood regulators with fake emails, that's a serious breach of public trust and may violate California law. We are asking for a formal investigation into the astroturf campaign immediately."

According to the San Francisco Chronicle investigation, Bay Area board members have recently received dozens of emails purportedly from constituents calling for socio-economic impact studies on Air District regulations - a demand that is not only a well-worn fossil fuel industry tactic to delay and weaken clean air rules, but also one based on a false premise: the Air District already conducts socioeconomic impact analyses as a standard, legally required part of its rulemaking process. The comments were submitted privately and directly to board members by an AI-powered platform, Speak4, shielding them from public scrutiny.

The Energy and Policy Institute, a utility and fossil fuel industry watchdog, obtained 85 emails sent to Bay Area Air District board members through a Public Records Act request. The Chronicle confirmed that at least 10 were submitted in individuals' names without their consent - including San Pablo resident Anthony Clewis, who said: "This was forged. I never wrote the letter. It's a travesty and conflict of interest and an invasion of privacy. … It made me feel like someone is cyberhacking me."

The extent of the AI astroturf campaign remains unknown - who funded it, whose identities were used without consent, and whether California law was broken. Advocates say a full investigation is needed to answer these questions and protect the integrity of local clean air rulemaking processes.

"This looks like a coordinated attempt to manufacture the illusion of grassroots opposition to clean air rules," said Melissa Yu, California Building Electrification Senior Field Organizer at the Sierra Club. "The public comment process is supposed to reflect real community input. When industry-backed campaigns can secretly generate countless messages using real people's identities without their knowledge or consent, it undermines democratic participation and demands accountability."

This is part of a growing statewide - and national - pattern. A Los Angeles Times investigationpreviously exposed how CiviClick, an AI-powered advocacy platform, generated more than 20,000 public commentsto defeat clean air standards proposed by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD)-some of which were submitted in individuals' names without their consent or knowledge. Those standards would have reduced smog-forming pollution from gas-powered furnaces and water heaters across Southern California, preventing thousands of premature deaths and asthma cases- but were rejected after the flood comments. CiviClick faces similar allegations in North Carolina, where local officials found that constituents denied sending messages submitted in their names.

This effort may be tied to new legislation seeking to further undermine the Air Districts - specifically South Coast and the Bay Area Air District. Last month, Assembly Member Ávila Farías introduced AB 2752, which would direct the Legislature to enact future legislation to ensure "the rules and regulations they adopt are cost effective, affordable, and achievable. Avila Farías was previously vice mayor of Martinez, home to the Martinez Refining Company - a refinery that is subject to recently-implemented pollution controls and in fairly regular violation of local air quality standards, bringing them into conflict with the Air District.

Legislative efforts are also underway to protect against the abuse of AI. State Sen. Christopher Cabaldon introduced SB 1159, which would clarify that AI systems and automated agents do not qualify as "persons" under California transparency and governance laws - including the Brown Act, CEQA, and the Administrative Procedure Act - specifically to prevent AI tools from flooding agencies with fake public input.

"The co-opting of residential voices in this process undermines community advocacy and organizing in a gravely concerning way. These voices are key to understanding viable concerns and implementing solutions in the Bay Area. If AI-generated campaigns such as these are allowed to stand, trust will be eroded between environmental justice communities, agencies, and representatives," Megan Leary, Community Engagement & Policy Manager, at Emerald Cities Collaborative Northern California. Emerald Cities is a member of the Air District's Implementation Working Group.

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.