Last week's top climate posts: May 9-15
Right-wing media goes after Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm after the Colonial Pipeline shutdown
For starters, here are the top 3️⃣ performing posts across Facebook in the United States last week mentioning “Climate change” or “Global Warming.” You may notice that Dan Bongino is squeezing the below story about Kamala Harris for every last click, since at least one of the posts he made about it last week also racked up a fair amount of engagement.
Here are the top 10 posts from climate and polluter groups on Facebook last week and the # of interactions each post got:
Here are the top 10 posts from climate and polluter groups on Instagram last week and the # of interactions each post got (quick housekeeping note: we cut Greenpeace International from our list due to their exceptionally large IG following)
During a White House press briefing last week, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was asked about how the Colonial Pipeline shutdown affected the Biden administration’s efforts to transition to clean energy, to which she responded, “we obviously are “all in” on making sure that we meet the President’s goals of getting to 100 percent clean electricity by 2035 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. And, you know, if you drive an electric car, this would not be affecting you, clearly.”
The conservative media machine latched onto this as evidence that the Biden administration holds working-class Americans in contempt, and some even took the remarks as a signal that the Biden administration conspired to enable the attack to help justify their transition to clean energy. The grifters over at the Daily Wire and Breitbart ran with it, giving the mini-controversy legs on Facebook. Last week, posts about Granholm got over 518,000 interactions, according to Crowdtangle.
Back in the real world, last Sunday was Mother’s Day, giving climate groups an opportunity to praise our Mother Earth for clicks. Three of the past week’s top posts - from Greenpeace USA, Climate Reality, and Defenders of Wildlife - were all clever mom-themed posts celebrating the mom we all share.
Defenders of Wildlife’s whale-themed post seems to have been well-timed. Last week, they, the Center of Biological Diversity, and NRDC submitted a petition to the Biden administration to protect the Gulf of Mexico whale, a rare species threatened by speeding boats. On top of submitting paperwork together, the groups also seem to be coordinating to advocate for the whales’ protection on Facebook.
On Instagram, the climate fights in Minnesota got some attention from the Sierra Club and Extinction Rebellion. The Sierra Club celebrated the recent ruling by a Minnesota judge to let state regulators’ clean cars plan move forward without the state legislature, and Extinction Rebellion uplifted protests in Washington, D.C., to defund Line 3.