Fossil fuel ‘influencers’ add new twist to old game of paid promotions

By Trey Thoelcke Updated Jan 18, 10:34AM EST · Published Jan 18, 4:32AM EST

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Fossil fuel ‘influencers’ add new twist to old game of paid promotions — © PamWalker68 / iStock via Getty Images

(A native of England, veteran journalist Matthew Diebel has worked at NBC News, Time, USA Today and News Corp., among other organizations. Having spent much of his childhood next to one of the world’s fastest bodies of water, he is particularly interested in tidal energy.)

Made in the shady: The fossil fuel industry’s ‘influencers’

Ever since I first heard it, I’ve been both fascinated and repelled by the word “influencers.” As a skeptical journalist who hopes he’s not easily persuaded, the moniker has an ickiness about it that leaves one with the impression that many people are gullible.

The term appeared on the scene a few years ago and usually meant some beauteous celebrity or social media star pushing a particular perfume or party dress. OK, not such a big deal, even when, as my son does, you spend hundreds of dollars annually on sneakers touted by one hotshot or another.

But now the somewhat insidious salespersonship has come to the matter of climate change, with millions being paid to influencers to promote fossil fuels. And it turns out it’s a shady business in more ways than one…

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About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.