Last week's top climate posts: June 20 -26
Climate skeptics try to own the libs while Sunrise Movement acts
For starters, here are the top 3️⃣ performing posts across Facebook in the United States last week mentioning “climate change” or “global warming.” Two of these posts touch on climate change indirectly, while the third, from Breitbart, uses an ad hominem attack tinted with misogyny to discredit the idea of climate-forced mass migration.
Breitbart’s post is part of a larger trend of right-wing pages and climate skeptics frequently using ad hominem attacks against high-profile women in their quest against climate action. You can read more about that trend here.
Here are the top 10 posts from climate and polluter groups on Facebook last week and the # of interactions each post received:
Here are the top 10 posts from climate and polluter groups on Facebook last week and the # of interactions each post received:
Climate-skeptical and polluter-friendly Facebook pages got a relatively high amount of engagement on Facebook last week, with pages like the American Energy Alliance, CFACT, and Minnesotans for Line 3 among the top ten most-engaged posts from groups we’re tracking. All three pages were likely able to get higher than usual levels of engagement on their posts because they used a tried-and-true social media tactic for right-wing pages: owning the libs. On the other hand, The Wilderness Society found success on Facebook last week by celebrating recent conservation wins like protecting the Tongass National Forest and highlighting Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s InStyle profile.
On Instagram, where climate skeptics and polluters have far less clout than climate groups compared to Facebook, Extinction Rebellion and Sunrise Movement accounted for all ten most-engaged posts from groups we’re tracking. Most of Extinction Rebellion’s posts drove a significant amount of traffic around #UncontactedTribesWeek, and so were largely focused on preserving lands for said tribes in Brazil and Peru. Meanwhile, the Sunrise Movement’s posts highlighted recent demonstrations by the group’s activists urging the Biden Administration to stick to its campaign promises of taking meaningful action on climate change.