New analysis: More than $183 million spent on climate & energy Facebook ads in 5 years
A roundup of the climate conversation across social media this week
Welcome to Climate Monitor, a weekly, data-driven report on the digital strategies polluters and pro-Climate groups are using to shift public opinion and move legislation. Here’s what we found:
Toplines:
Over the past 5 years, the top 100 highest spending climate and energy advertisers on Facebook have dropped a cumulative $183 million on ads. The top spender? Exxon Mobil, which has spent over $23 million on the platform since 2018
Shell ramped up its digital advertising last week, promoting its work to support EV chargers and “renewable energy”
The Biden admin shared several climate-related posts on Facebook last week that earned decent engagement on the platform
NRDC Action is targeting Pennsylvanians with a new YouTube ad campaign in support of Gov. Josh Shapiro and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
Digital Advertising Roundup
Facebook + Instagram 👍
For starters, here were the top 25 climate and energy-related advertisers on Facebook and Instagram last week:
A notable new campaign that ran on Facebook and Instagram this week came from the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC). These ads, which ran across the South, address two climate disputes down in the Carolinas: protecting the Cainhoy Peninsula in South Carolina from development and protecting old-growth forests in North Carolina from deforestation.
The Coalition for Environmental Equity and Economics took on corporations in the digital sphere this week too. They released a slew of Facebook and Instagram ads targeted primarily at users in California criticizing CA’s energy infrastructure and protesting a new utility tax that would benefit billion-dollar energy companies in the state.
…and finally, Shell shelled out $$$ on a new ad campaign touting “Shell Recharge,” its new EV charging network. The ads also threw a bone to sports lovers across the US, promoting the use of “Shell renewable energy” at events like the Indy 500 and the Shell Stadium in Houston, TX.
Google & YouTube 🎞️
There was only one climate or energy advertiser archived by Google last week: NRDC Action Votes, which has spent between $15,000 - $20,000 on this YouTube ad targeting Pennsylvania in support of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)
Snapchat 🤳
There were no new climate-related ads on Snapchat this week.
🔦 Spotlight: The top climate & energy advertisers on Facebook
Over the past five years, the top 100 climate and energy-related advertisers on Facebook and Instagram in the United States have cumulatively spent $183.4 million dollars. A majority (59%) of that spending has come from pro-climate groups or clean energy advocates. 29% of that total spend came from the fossil fuel industry or their affiliated lobbying operations, and another 12% came from government entities or neutral utilities. Here’s the breakdown:
The highest-spending advertiser across the climate and energy sector continues to be fossil fuel giant Exxon Mobil, which has spent over $23.1 million since June 2018 on Facebook and Instagram ads. As readers of this newsletter are already aware, the company’s ad campaigns often seek to “greenwash,” or misinform Americans about the environmental impact of their work. They were followed by the American Petroleum Institute ($11.3 M), CA Public Utilities Commission ($9.8 M), Sierra Club ($7.6 M), American Chemistry Council ($7.5 M), NRDC ($6 M), League of Conservation Voters ($5 M), NextGen ($5 M), and NRDC Action Fund ($4.7 M).
You can find a list of the top 100 advertisers in the climate and energy space here >>
What’s Trending on Social Media
How are climate and energy issues being discussed by Americans on social media? Every week, we conduct a robust keyword search using CrowdTangle for general terms like “climate change,” “global warming,” “fossil fuels,” and over 40 more specific topics (like “electric vehicles,” “gas stoves” and “pipelines”). Here were the 15 top-performing public posts (by # of interactions) related to climate and energy on Facebook last week:
Last week, over 11,600 public Facebook posts mentioned climate or energy issues, and they earned a cumulative 397,000 interactions.
This week, President Biden went big on climate across his social media platforms. His official Facebook account shared a live-action shot of the President veto-ing the GOP’s resolution to end EPA air quality standards. Over on his campaign Facebook account, @joebiden, Biden re-affirmed his administration’s commitment to tackling climate change (and dropped in a lil ActBlue link to boot).
Over on the Right, several long-form videos from conservative voices about climate got a good amount of attention on Facebook. Bill O’Reilly ranted that Biden’s focus on clean energy allowed Putin to gain power. And a group called Elon Musk Fans shared a 18-minute alarmist video from Facts Matter about an alleged plot by the Irish government to “cull” 200,000 cows to protect the planet.
And finally, journalist Johnny Harris posted a deep-dive video about Greenland’s role in climate change and the geopolitical power plays that are resulting because of it. It’s a super interesting video – definitely worth a watch!
Here were the top-performing feed posts (excluding Reels and Stories) related to climate and energy on Instagram last week:
Last week, over 6,000 public Instagram feed posts mentioned climate or energy issues, and they earned a cumulative 6.7 million interactions.
The top performing post came from @natgeo about Ghanian-English climate activist, Yvette Tetteh, which was followed by a meme from the conservative @thebabylonbee and a post from @nytimes about young climate activists in Montana.
Weekly Reading
Want to go deeper? Here’s a quick roundup of news from the past week at the intersection of climate, digital strategy, and advocacy.
P.S. Are you signed up for Climate Nexus’ daily newsletter, Hot News? It’s a one-stop shop for everything you need to know in the climate and environmental policy space. Subscribe here>>
Media coverage of climate change research does not inspire action, say scientists (Phys, 6/20)
Who’s shaping the GOP’s 2024 energy strategy? (POLITICO, 6/16)
DSP says it can bid for low-emitting ad inventory (Morning Brew, 6/21)
That’s it for this week! If you enjoyed reading this week’s issue, feel free to forward it to a friend or colleague.
Climate Monitor is a product of the Digital Climate Coalition + FWIW Media. Tips/comments/questions? Email kyle@fwiwmedia.com