‘An extension of what we already have underway, Mr President.

‘We have over three hundred clickbait news sites running already. Between them these sites carry hundreds of thousands of news articles of every type. Celebrity stories. Conspiracy theories. History. Sports. Whatever we need. I have a team already working on the necessary algorithms. Using data mining, we can use those algorithms to send the best-suited headlines to each and every social media account on every provider we control. So, for example, let’s say we have a Knicks fan. Well, he’ll get bombarded with news headlines about anything and everything associated to the Knicks. No matter how tangential.

‘But the data-mining is the easy part. Where the algorithms really kick in is the next step. You see, every one of these sites – once they’ve been clicked on – will begin to offer further headlines. To articles that address climate change, but tweaked to the interests of the particular user. So that people who wouldn’t usually be interested in the subject still find some reason to read. Click on these and that user will be taken to whatever article best suits them. Whatever will hold their attention long enough to get the message across. To get our message.’

Cunningham nodded in agreement. He had heard this speech before. Hell, he had written most of it.

‘So what do you need?’

‘I estimate six hundred and fifty million dollars to push us across the line, Mr President. That will make the difference between impact and saturation. With the right investment, I can guarantee that every social media user in the United States is never more than three irresistible clicks away from climate change denial.’

Cunningham turned to Knowles, again nodding his head. A clear indication of his own thoughts on the plan. The cost to the taxpayer? A mere drop in the ocean compared to what the organisation could earn from even a small U-turn on environmental regulation.

‘What’s the estimated timescale of the turnaround?’ Nicolas Dupart asked the question before Cunningham could return to the script. The interruption did not matter. It was exactly what Cunningham would have asked. Dupart knew the brief.

‘We can have this moving full scale within two months,’ Luthor replied. ‘After that, the time it will take to change people’s perception? Based upon saturation levels, we estimate six months to a year.’

‘So that puts us ahead of Rio by four months,’ Dupart said. He turned to Knowles and Cunningham. ‘Mr President, if that timescale is realistic then this can be done. We can have public opinion behind us in time to derail the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference.’

‘Amazing.’ Knowles sounded genuinely impressed. ‘No denying it. You boys are good at what you do.’

Cunningham looked from face to face. Dupart’s showed no reaction. But the others? Their satisfaction with the president’s compliment was unmistakable.

Pathetic, Cunningham thought. One word from him and they’re on top of the world. As if any of this was down to them.