Climate Claims Checklist for Progressive Activism

Spin up a trackable issue in your workflow tool so research, comms, and field can collaborate under one URL with clear ownership and deadlines.

Save the exact phrasing and asset to preserve context and avoid memory drift, which helps you pinpoint the right counter-fact and protects against edits.

Tag whether it is about science, prices, grid reliability, jobs, or public health so you can route to the right subject-matter lead and choose audience-relevant frames.

Weigh post velocity, geography relevance, and base-audience risk to decide if you need an immediate debunk, a same-day explainer, or a longer-form brief.

Designate a source lead, data checker, comms drafter, and compliance reviewer with a hard stop so you ship corrections quickly without sacrificing accuracy.

Share the working link and ETA in your encrypted channel so allied groups can align messages and avoid contradictory posts that confuse volunteers.

Start with NOAA, EPA, DOE, EIA, BLS, state energy offices, and utility commission filings to anchor corrections in authoritative records.

Check per capita vs absolute numbers, month vs year windows, and retail vs wholesale rates to prevent apples-to-oranges comparisons.

Confirm when laws took effect and when benefits hit ratepayers or workers so you do not credit or blame the wrong policy period.

Use NERC seasonal assessments and ISO or RTO data like PJM, ERCOT, CAISO to validate blackout risk assertions before responding.

Separate construction vs operations roles, temp vs permanent jobs, and direct vs indirect counts to avoid inflated or mismatched figures.

Flag whether numbers are modeled, include capacity factor assumptions, or rely on tax credit uptake rates so your correction does not overstate certainty.

Name the claim, correct it with a single clear number, and include one primary-source link to keep posts readable and screenshot-friendly.

Add concrete details like rebate amounts, wildfire smoke days, or bill impacts in the target area so the message feels relevant to voters.

Choose pocketbook savings, health impacts, or union jobs to match your target segment and reduce cognitive resistance among low-information voters.

Run the draft past your comms lead and counsel so you maintain tax-status compliance and avoid takedowns for policy violations.

Include high contrast colors, readable fonts, and alt text so your correction is usable across disability contexts and for SMS forwarding.

Offer a short, sourced note tying the correction to a specific county or utility and confirm availability for a same-day quote or live hit.

Design a half-sheet with the claim, one-line correction, and a QR that lands on a mobile-friendly source page for doors and tables.

Track whether voters heard the rumor and log persuasion outcomes so you can measure spread and retarget in hot precincts.

Practice a values pivot and a two-sentence correction so volunteers feel prepared for doorstep pushback.

Give volunteers a quick script for family and friends plus a sharable link that preserves analytics via UTM codes.

Avoid literal translations on technical terms like capacity factor or heat pump, and test reading level with community partners.

Train canvassers on opt-out language and set a supervisor hotline for immediate support during high-tension moments.

Create distinct UTMs for Facebook, TikTok, email, and SMS so you can attribute traffic and refine placements on the fly.

Scan from 60 cm and 1.5 m under indoor and outdoor light before sending to print to reduce field failures.

Explain the visual and state the correction with the cited source so screen-reader users get the full context.

Make videos scannable and accessible, and point to the exact moment the disputed claim appears alongside the correction.

Keep images under 500 KB and verify that QRs still scan after compression to ensure reliable MMS delivery.

Host the correction on a fast page with clear citations and schema so search engines and volunteers can surface it quickly.

Apply the right disclaimer and content boundaries when naming candidates or pending legislation to protect your status.

Stick to verifiable facts and avoid attributing motives so posts meet legal standards and do not trigger platform penalties.

Use signed releases and centralized storage, and honor revocations to respect community trust and reduce legal risk.

Maintain opt-in records, honor opt-outs, and limit data access by role so your outreach remains compliant and respectful.

Track reach, clicks, QR scans, canvass mentions, and persuasion outcomes by precinct to guide redeployment of resources.

Document what worked, store sources and creatives, and update your playbook for faster turnaround on the next claim.