In a stunning reversal, Lucy Biggers, once a celebrated voice in the climate change arena, now denounces the movement she championed as a harmful deception.
According to Just the News, Biggers, a former sustainability influencer, has transitioned from advocating for urgent climate action to promoting the benefits of modern life and fossil fuels, aiming to ease the anxiety she believes the climate narrative imposes on youth.
About a decade ago, Biggers was deeply entrenched in the belief that climate change posed an immediate, catastrophic threat. She argued for the swift phasing out of fossil fuels, confident that renewable energy sources could fully replace them. During this time, she viewed Western lifestyles as something to be ashamed of, a perspective she shared widely with her audience.
As a content creator for NowThis Entertainment, Biggers produced videos that amassed millions of views, spreading messages of climate urgency. Her work included high-profile interviews, such as one with Greta Thunberg in Stockholm for a series called "One Small Step," which focused on waste reduction. She also contributed to political campaigns, helping Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez secure her election in 2018, and covered events like a "Solving Our Climate Crisis" panel with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
In April 2016, Biggers engaged with protests near Bismarck, North Dakota, over the Dakota Access Pipeline, where the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation raised concerns about water safety and tribal rights. She traveled to the site to join demonstrators and created videos amplifying their cause. One notable piece featured actress Shailene Woodley’s speech against the pipeline, enhanced with somber music and subtitles, which gained over 17 million views.
Biggers continued her advocacy with content on topics like sustainable hemp farming and the environmental impact of plastic straws while at NowThis. However, her outlook began to change during the COVID-19 pandemic, when global shutdowns led to only a minor reduction in emissions. Reflecting on this, she questioned the climate movement’s demands, saying, “I thought, ‘wow, if we have to shut down the entire world and bring the world to a stop and emissions go down only a little, what does the climate movement want us to do?’”
She added, “And what sacrifices will we have to make? And honestly, would I want to live in that world?” The birth of her son further reshaped her views, as she sought to shield him from the guilt she once felt. “I had so much guilt and shame for being a modern human because I saw the world through this lens of the climate movement,” Biggers explained.
She continued, “I didn't want to pass that guilt and shame on to my son and make him feel bad for living a modern life.” By 2020, Biggers left NowThis, briefly worked for a media nonprofit, and later joined The Free Press to manage social media. In May 2024, she penned an article for The Free Press, chronicling her evolution from climate advocate to skeptic.
Biggers’ social media presence was significant, with followings of 30,000 to 50,000 across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, and some videos earning up to 2.5 million likes. However, her shift has drawn backlash from many original followers, with comments accusing her of being influenced by oil companies or harboring a “white savior” attitude. Criticism also came from Josh Fox, director of the 2010 documentary “Gasland,” who disputed her contributions to NowThis videos and called her past efforts ineffective.
Fox remarked, “I feel that this article was only written because Lucy had a come to Jesus moment about how ineffective HER work was—she made tons of videos advocating for consumer solutions to environmental problems.” Despite the negativity, Biggers, now 35, insists she is happier having shed the apocalyptic mindset of her past. She avoids reading harsh feedback, noting, “I knew it was going to just knock me off my confidence in myself.”
In her Free Press piece, she wrote, “Do fossil fuels cause our planet to warm? Yes. They also make modern life possible, freeing women from hours of labor and empowering us in a million different ways.” She further argued, “They’re singularly cost-effective and versatile as an energy source.” Biggers criticized renewable energy, stating, “Nor do they admit that the promised panacea of renewable energy, like solar and wind, are nowhere near close to replacing fossil fuels and in fact, have their own dark environmental footprint.”
Since August 2024, Biggers has shared dozens of TikTok videos explaining her departure from climate activism, expanding to Instagram and X recently. In May 2025, she launched a series explicitly calling the movement a “scam,” aiming to connect with others who feel burdened by its messaging. “Hopefully, anyone who relates to my story can see themselves in me,” she said, expressing a desire to help others release guilt.
She elaborated, “Maybe one of my videos will spark something in them that makes them start to unwind some of these beliefs and realize they don't have to walk around with so much guilt and shame and fear.”
Biggers also highlighted the emotional toll of her former views, saying, “For years, I just lived feeling so much guilt I couldn't appreciate all the abundance around me.” Her journey underscores a broader concern, as a Lancet poll found 85% of 16- to 25-year-olds in the U.S. are at least moderately worried about climate change, with 43% reporting mental health impacts.