New digital ads push Line 5 pipeline in Michigan, Minnesota
Plus, a look at three new pro-climate ad campaigns in California
Welcome to Climate Monitor, a weekly digest of the digital tactics and strategies that polluters and climate-action groups are using to shift public opinion and move legislation. We’ve examined political ad spending on platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, and Google by several dozen groups and corporations from the past week, as well as what’s trending on social media. Tell your colleagues to subscribe here!
TL;DR:
Both Enbridge and “Great Lakes. Michigan Jobs” - a Facebook page backed by the American Petroleum Institute - launched digital ads this week promoting the economic benefits of the Line 5 pipeline in Minnesota and Michigan.
NextGen America, NRDC, and a new Lyft-back group called Clean Air California launched Facebook ads this month pushing California lawmakers to adopt a climate budget, implement a climate-based water access plan, and enact a new clean air law, respectively.
On Facebook last week, a host of right-wing pages spread a Wall Street Journal report that lamented the current infeasibility of a long-distance road trip in an electric vehicle.
National Digital Ad Spending on Climate
Meta (Facebook + Instagram)
First, here are the top 25 spenders nationwide on climate and energy-related ads on Meta platforms from last week:
Last week, the top advertiser on climate-related ads was adidas, which spent over $110k promoting their campaign to end plastic pollution in our oceans. On top of that, pro-climate groups made their biggest investment in Meta political ads so far this year, spending $384k on the platform. Science Moms, Yale Climate Communications, NextGen America, Environmental Defense Fund, NRDC, and Earthjustice accounted for nearly half of this spending, and most of them have launched new campaigns this month.
Perhaps the biggest new campaign from these groups came from NextGen. They’re running a literal fake news segment targeted at Californians to illustrate what news coverage could look like if state lawmakers actually enact a “California climate budget.” Also targeting the Golden State with climate action messaging is NRDC, which is calling on the state to implement a climate-focused plan to combat the crises stemming from its worsening water crisis. Additionally, a group called Clean Air California, a group funded by Lyft, the California State Association of Electrical Workers, and California Environmental Voters, spent $21k on Meta ads calling on the state to enact the “Clean Air and Clean Cars Act.”
At the national level, we found that EDF is running a small new campaign of less than $1k supporting an SEC rules change that would require “publicly-traded companies to disclose information about their climate-related financial risk.” And, in REI’s latest public lobbying push, they spent close to $40k on Meta ads supporting the “Transit to Trails Act,” claiming it would “fund more transportation to public lands.”
We found two new Meta ad campaigns from fossil fuel groups, both supporting the Line 5 pipeline. Firstly, Enbridge spent $7k on the platform last week, the most it’s spent in one week so far this year, on ads that either highlight the economic benefits of Line 5 or promote the oil and gas company’s “#NetZero2050” goal. Similarly, Great Lakes. Michigan Jobs. is running new video ads pushing to keep Line 5 open and to get the public to support a new oil transportation tunnel.
Google + YouTube
Last week, Conservation MN Voter Center spent an additional $4k on YouTube ads that either laud pro-climate lawmakers or criticize their climate-skeptic counterparts. On the flip side of that, the so-called Conservative Coalition for Climate Solutions spent $100 promoting a pair of its interviews with Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and one of its policy analysts. Finally, we found that a group called California Alliance, which is funded by Consumer Attorneys of California, California Environment Voters, and SEIU California State Council, spent a whopping $18,800 on a pair of YouTube ads attacking a state senate candidate in Sacramento, claiming that she is “supported by corporate oil polluters…and utility companies like PG&E.”
Snapchat
We did not identify any new Snap ad campaigns related to clean energy, climate change, or the environment last week.
Overall, here’s how much has been spent on that platform this year on related ads:
Climate & Energy Ads in the 2022 Elections
Here’s a roundup of notable energy or climate-related advertising from battleground midterm campaigns:
FL-GOV: Ron DeSantis has launched a series of email acquisition ads on gas prices: “⛽️ OFFICIAL SURVEY: Are YOU feeling pain at the pump thanks to Joe Biden?”
GA-02: Running against longtime incumbent Rep. Sanford Bishop, Republican Jeremy Hunt launched a new video ad to win his runoff primary election: “I'm running for Congress to fight for our farmers, unleash American energy, and deliver results for Southwest and Middle Georgia.”
NJ-05: Using his non-campaign Facebook page, Rep. Josh Gottheimer spent under $3k promoting his “All-of-the-Above Energy Plan,” claiming that it will “help lower gas prices for Jersey families and end our country's reliance on Russian oil.”
NC-SEN: Ted Budd is again using Meta ads to promote one of his Fox News hits, this time criticizing President Biden for attributing high gas prices to Russia’s war in Ukraine: “Just like their reaction to record breaking gas prices, the Left’s strategy is always to deny the negative consequences of their radical policies at the expense of the American people.”
Reaching Frontline Communities
As part of their broader push for California to address climate-driven droughts, NRDC is explicitly appealing to the poor clean water access that the state’s low-income communities of color face. As a result, they’re calling on state leaders “to replace every lead service line.” Like other ads in this campaign, these are targeted at women in California.
Tracking Climate Disinfo Online
This week, our tracking partners found that more than 25 million people were exposed to misinformation or toxic narratives related to the environment from June 07, 2022, through June 13, 2022 - on Twitter alone, an increase of 19 million from last week's exposure levels. The content had over 14,000 engagements on Facebook, an increase of 4,500 from last week's exposure levels. The content had over two million views on Telegram, a decrease of 600,000 from last week's exposure levels.
Top narratives and themes are below. You can find the full report here
Biden’s 2020 promises on climate have increased gas prices
2,300,000 human accounts exposed on Twitter, Minimal Facebook engagement identified, Minimal Telegram engagement identified
Climate policy is responsible for rising inflation, gas prices, and blackouts
10,000,000 human accounts exposed on Twitter, Over 3,700 engagements on Facebook, Minimal Telegram engagement identified
Deaths due to the Covid vaccine will be blamed on climate change
Minimal Twitter engagement identified, Over 450 engagements on Facebook, Over 50,000 views on Telegram
What’s trending organically?
On Facebook last week, some of the top posts mentioning energy, climate change, and related terms came from Green New Deal and Breitbart. GND’s post highlighted South Korea for putting a solar panel canopy over a bicycle path. Breitbart, on the other hand, along with TheBlaze, Steven Crowder, and Glenn Beck, spread a pessimistic Wall Street Journal report of driving from New Orleans to Chicago in an electric vehicle which concluded with switching back to a gas car: “Fumes never smelled so sweet.” All told, the four pages’ posts earned 124.3k interactions. By contrast, the most engaged Facebook post that positively mentioned EVs last week got just 8.6k interactions.
We will also note that posts from Elizabeth Warren and Robert Reich called for a windfall profits tax on Big Oil and together got 59k interactions.
Overall, here’s how the most engaged content on Facebook mentioning climate, energy, and related terms breaks down:
On Instagram, the most highly engaged post that mentioned climate- or energy-related terms came from Donald Trump Jr. and Fox News, both of which attacked President Joe Biden for high gas prices. A right-wing meme called Hodgetwins page took it a step further and made light of the January 6th attack to call back to how low gas prices were before Biden became president.
The most engaged post from a pro-climate action page came from Leonardo DiCaprio, who praised the Biden administration for using the Defense Production Act to expand federal investment in solar energy. His post got 67k interactions; on the other hand, a post from Dan Crenshaw criticizing the same decision because “Solar panels don’t make gas cheaper” got 74k interactions.
Overall, here’s how the most engaged content on Instagram mentioning climate, energy, and related terms breaks down:
That’s it for Climate Monitor this week. As always, if you have any comments or questions, feel free to drop us a line by shooting an email to nick@fwiwmedia.com.