Online reactions to SCOTUS’ disastrous EPA ruling
Plus, a look at new pro-fossil fuel ads from a GOP dark money group
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:
Following the Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia vs. EPA, six climate groups immediately launched Meta ads criticizing the decision, mostly to fundraise.
The American Petroleum Institute has spent nearly a quarter-million dollars over the past month on new pro-pipeline ads.
Republican dark money group American Action Network spent $51k on YouTube ads last week attacking vulnerable House Democrats for high gas prices and pushing them to oppose the latest reconciliation effort in the Senate.
On Facebook, climate-skeptic posts on West Virginia outnumbered and outperformed pro-climate content about the decision. Conversely, pro-climate content far outperformed climate-skeptic content on Instagram.
Overall, the most engaged Facebook post mentioning climate change or energy came from Mike Rowe, who defended his appearance in a fossil fuel ad with more pro-fossil fuel rhetoric.
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:
After the Supreme Court released its ruling in West Virginia vs. EPA, at least six groups immediately launched Meta ads criticizing the decision: Climate Power, Earthjustice, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Evergreen Action, the National Audubon Society, and the Wilderness Society. While most of these groups used the ruling to fundraise or collect emails, Climate Power spent a minimal amount of money boosting pro-climate news stories about it.
We also found that EDF spent roughly $15k on a new Meta ad campaign supporting the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Since last week, they’ve been targeting young adults in North Carolina, and Pennsylvania with ads arguing that residents of states in the RGGI have been insulated from “rollercoaster natural gas prices.” Also running geotargeted Meta ads recently is LCV Victory Fund, which is supporting Donna Edwards in her campaign to return to Congress in MD-04.
Among polluters, the most notable new Meta ad campaign in recent weeks came from the American Petroleum Institute, which has been running new pro-pipeline ads since early June. They’ve spent around $250k on ads targeting young men in states like CO, IA, LA, MI, MN, NM, OH, and WI arguing that pipelines are, among other things, “reliable and more affordable means to deliver energy for Americans and their families!”
Google + YouTube
Republican dark money group American Action Network has launched a major YouTube ad campaign targeting House Democrats in four swing seats. The ads either blame high gas prices on government spending and call on these representatives to “oppose the new Build Back Better scheme”; or they claim that “liberals attacked American energy, now gas prices are the highest ever. So tell [congressperson] to open American energy production and lower gas prices.”
Overall, here’s how much these groups spent on Google political ads last week:
Snapchat
The only new Snap political ads that mentioned climate change and related issues once again came from Patagonia, which spent $1,200 on the platform in the past week. They’re using their ads to raise awareness about mining in Alaska, wildlife corridors in Virginia, Native history in the Grand Canyon, and volunteering in Moab, UT.
Climate & Energy Ads in the 2022 Elections
Here’s a roundup of notable energy or climate-related advertising from battleground midterm campaigns:
AZ-SEN: In the intensifying GOP primary, Jim Lamon released an ad contrasting himself with “open borders Fake Blake Masters,” saying, “I created thousands of American jobs, made America less dependent on foreign energy.” The ad does not mention his business was in solar energy.
FL-GOV: Ron DeSantis is running email acquisition ads nationwide: “Joe Biden came into office and declared WAR against American Energy. 🚨⛽ And as a result: We are PAYING MORE at the pump than we ever have in the HISTORY of our country. This is hurting families, it’s hurting our economy, and we need to hold Biden accountable!”
GA-SEN: Once again, Herschel Walker is attacking Raphael Warnock for high gas prices: “In 18 months, we have gone from energy independence to energy dependence for no reason other than to appease a few radical members of their party - and at the expense of hard-working Americans.”
NJ-05: Josh Gottheimer promoted a local news story that highlighted his “All-of-the-Above Energy Plan to lower gas prices while meeting our long-term climate goals.”
WY-AL: In her fight to keep her seat from radical Republicans, Liz Cheney is echoing Big Oil rhetoric: “Liz opposes Biden’s energy agenda. Find out how she’s working to advance Wyoming energy production to keep America strong.”
Reaching Frontline Communities
Over the past month, Sierra Club has spent roughly $1,000 on ads promoting its magazine to Spanish-speaking audiences. The group is using textile pollution, newborn wolf pups, and climate change to grow their audience.
Tracking Climate Disinfo Online
This week, Triplecheck found that more than 15 million people were exposed to climate misinformation on Twitter during the time period reviewed, an increase of more than 200 percent from last week's exposure levels. The content had over 100,000 engagements on Facebook, an increase of more than 300 percent from last week's exposure levels. The content had over five million views on Telegram, an increase of 50 percent from last week's exposure levels.
The top narratives and themes are below. You can find Triplecheck’s full report here.
Climate change is a hoax, created in order to take power and money away from the people
1,200,000 human accounts exposed on Twitter
Minimal Facebook engagement identified
Minimal Telegram engagement identified
The solution to high gas prices is more drilling and lease sales
2,500,000 human accounts exposed on Twitter
Over 3,400 engagements on Facebook
Minimal Telegram engagement identified
Environmental hypocrites left trash at Glastonbury music festival after Thunberg speech
Minimal Twitter engagement identified
Over 400 engagements on Facebook
Over 310,000 views on Telegram
Inslee warned that the summer would be disastrous because of climate change
Minimal Twitter engagement identified
Over 5,200 engagements on Facebook
Over 50,000 views on Telegram
Biden is a hypocrite and doesn't care about climate change
1,100,000 people were exposed to this narrative originating in Spanish-speaking communities
What’s trending organically?
Last week, the most engaged Facebook posts mentioning climate change, energy, and related terms came from Mike Rowe, who wrote up a veritable essay full of Big Oil rhetoric defending an ad he featured in for the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board. And while Bernie Sanders continues to drive relatively high engagement on his posts advocating for a windfall profits tax, Barack Obama earned 308.3k interactions, primarily on Instagram, when he lamented the ramifications of West Virginia vs. EPA.
To understand how that Supreme Court decision was received on social media, we looked at the 100 most engaged posts mentioning the news. We found that 58 of those posts came from right-wing pages celebrating the decision, which in total earned nearly 358k interactions. Conversely, just 17 of these posts came from left-wing pages, whose posts earned a total of 231k interactions.
Finally, we’ll note that Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is continuing his digital crusade against electric vehicles, this time perpetuating the idea that gas taxes won’t be able to finance our roads if every driver switches to an electric vehicle.
Overall, here’s how the most engaged content on Facebook breaks down:
On Instagram, left-wing pages enjoyed far more engagement on their posts in the wake of West Virginia. Of the top 100 most engaged posts mentioning the case, 52 posts came from left-wing pages, earning a total of 694k interactions; the top posts among these came from Barack Obama, Jane Fonda, and theprogressivists.
By contrast, just 17 of the top 100 posts came from right-wing pages, which in total earned 182,135 interactions. The most engaged right-wing post came from Dan Crenshaw, who pre-emptively cheered on West Virginia because it would “tell democrats you can’t just unilaterally force any sector of the economy to ‘decarbonize.’” As an aside, we’ll also note that one of the most common themes among right-wing posts celebrating the decision was the notion that it might further limit government agencies’ ability to regulate guns.
Aside from the drama at SCOTUS, the most engaged posts mentioning climate change, clean energy, or related terms came from Formula One, which is apparently shooting for “Net Zero Carbon” by 2030. 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.