A look at the first big digital climate change + energy campaigns of 2022
Climate Power, natural gas allies launched new Facebook, Google ad campaigns last week
Welcome to Climate Monitor, your weekly digest of the digital tactics and strategies that polluters and climate-action groups are deploying online 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 their activities on social media. Tell your colleagues to subscribe here!
What we found:
Overall, climate groups increased their spending on Facebook political ads, spending $221,291 last week, while polluters spent $160,031 on the platform in the same period.
Climate Power in particular grew their investments in both Facebook and Google ads, using the latter platform to target the DC area with a pro-Build Back Better YouTube ad.
The American Chemistry Council and Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future both launched new greenwashing Facebook ad campaigns promoting plastic recycling and natural gas, respectively.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski is getting some early air cover from ClearPath Action Fund through YouTube and Google ads, lauding her for putting Alaska “on the cutting edge of American-made energy.”
National Digital Ad Spending on Climate
Here are the top 25 spenders nationwide on climate and energy-related ads on Meta platforms from last week:
While Facebook ad spending by climate groups remained relatively low, a few groups significantly grew their investments on the platform last week. Even though it isn’t running any new ads, Climate Power tripled its spending on its boosted news campaign highlighting the consequences and opportunities of the climate crisis. Additionally, NRDC doubled its Facebook ad spending with a pair of new campaigns arguing for methane regulation from the EPA and equitable farming in California. We also noticed that Power for Tomorrow, an advocacy group connected to Dominion Energy, launched a new ad campaign supporting Democratic members of the Virginia State Senate.
Spending on Facebook political ads by polluting companies and their allies remained relatively stable last week, but a couple new campaigns caught our eye. First, a new greenwashing campaign from the American Chemistry Council’s page called America’s Plastic Makers targeting young adults nationwide argues for a more robust plastic recycling infrastructure. We also found that Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future - a pro-natural gas group whose executive director was formerly a VP at Enbridge - spent nearly $13k on a campaign targeting young adults in the DMV, Pennsylvania, and New York arguing that natural gas is an acceptable clean energy substitute for fossil fuels.
Google + YouTube
While the Center for American Progress continues to use banner ads through Google to push for clean energy investments, we found a pair of new campaigns on the platform. In an effort to pass the Build Back Better Act, Climate Power started running this ad arguing for the economic benefits of the package targeting the Washington, DC, media market. Additionally, a group called ClearPath Action Fund that runs “campaigns to elect Republican clean energy champions” just launched a new Google and YouTube campaign supporting Sen. Lisa Murkowski:
Snapchat
We now have access to Snapchat political ad spending data for 2022, and it looks like the first climate group to invest in the platform this year was the NRDC Action Fund, which appears to be running a truly multiplatform email acquisition campaign. They’ve spent $827 on their Snap campaign and around $30k on Facebook ads, all of which target folks over 25.
Climate, clean energy, and conservation ads in this year’s key states
We picked up a few new Facebook ads mentioning climate change, conservation, and/or energy in some of the biggest races Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
GA-SEN: Raphael Warnock has spent under $300 on an email acquisition ad primarily targeted at older women connecting voting rights to climate action: “THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! 𝟏𝟖 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞. And HUNDREDS more bills could become law any day now. / If we sit back and let that happen, MILLIONS more Democrats may not be able to vote – the GOP could take back the House, the Senate and the Presidency! Our progressive future – from health care and good jobs to bold climate action – could go up in smoke!”
NC-SEN: Republican Marjorie Eastman spent around $2k on an ad tying inflation to rising gas and energy prices, blaming President Joe Biden: “We're paying more at the grocery store, to fill up our tank, & heat our homes. How is Biden's inflation crisis impacting you?”
PA-SEN: As part of a broader new campaign, Malcolm Kenyatta spent under $100 on an email acquisition ad that targeted older women nationwide: “This is going to be a tough fight, but I know we can take our mission of economic, racial, and environmental justice for ALL to Washington if we stand together.”
WI-SEN: Mandela Barnes launched a new email acquisition campaign, and one of his new ads lays out the stakes of his candidacy: “When Mandela first announced his campaign for the U.S. Senate, he said it was about fighting for opportunity. For everyone. Jobs we can support a family on. An education we can build a future on. Farms run by families. Health care that protects our health, not the wealth of corporations. The courage to tackle climate change. And the principles to protect our democracy and our right to vote. We can do all of this — if we do it together.”
Reaching Frontline Communities
The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District - a local public health agency focused on ensuring clean air in eight California counties in the San Joaquin Valley - has been running a PSA-style Facebook ad campaign since late last November warning residents of the risks wood-burning stoves and fireplaces pose to air quality. They’ve spent just under $5k on one Spanish language ad in this campaign saying as much, which mostly targets young men in California.
Measuring the National Organic Conversation
The top three Facebook posts mentioning climate change and related terms last week came from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (72.4k interactions), UNICEF (68.8k interactions), and UNICEF (43.6k interactions).
Much of the most-engaged content about climate change on social media last week was about the stakes, consequences, and opportunities. AOC’s Instagram post connecting collective action for public health to collective climate action got an astonishing 1.25 million likes, and Al Gore and his farm got some positive press. However, the most-engaged article about climate last week came from The Daily Wire, which got 60.1k interactions for an anti-solar quote from Elon Musk. Additionally, an article from Breitbart blasting the former veep got 18.8k interactions, far exceeding the engagement Gore’s positive press received.
The top three Instagram posts mentioning climate change from last week came from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, and Google.
The top tweets mentioning climate change from last week were again highly critical of the climate response - or lack thereof - by our institutions, especially governments and our consumerist economy. We also expect to see more posts connecting NFTs and cryptocurrency to incredible energy consumption as the new technologies continue to become part of the current high-tech zeitgeist this year.
That’s it for Climate Monitor this week. As always, head to climatemonitor.substack.com to see these updates in real time as we publish them throughout the week!
And if you have any comments or questions, feel free to drop us a line by shooting an email to nick@fwiwmedia.com.