The Online Battle for More (and More Respectful) National Monuments
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:
The fight for creating (and re-naming) national monuments has found new energy and momentum online
A group called Powered by Michigan, which is backed by the Potential Energy Coalition, is running ads to educate people about clean energy in MI
Videos about the climate protesters in Nevada are going viral amongst conservatives on Facebook
As the summer wraps up, climate misinformation about the extreme weather is growing
Digital Advertising Roundup
Facebook + Instagram 👍
For starters, here were the top 25 climate and energy-related advertisers on Facebook and Instagram last week:
The top spenders on digital ads in the climate and energy space are the oil giant Shell, the American Chemistry Council (AKA the plastics lobby), and the American Petroleum Institute. This dynamic has persisted for weeks.
Clean energy in Michigan was a big topic for climate-related Facebook and Instagram ads this week. The Potential Energy Coalition started running ads on Facebook and Instagram in the Wolverine State in support of a coalition group called Powered By Michigan. The ads emphasize the need for clean energy – and how Michiganders can educate themselves about it.
Similarly, another Michigan-based group called Grass Lake Solar – which is also the name of their proposed regional solar project in the Leoni Township and the Grass Lake Charter Township – is running ads on Facebook and Instagram in MI as well. The ads call on community members to support the project.
And finally, Action for the Climate Emergency is running ads across Wisconsin asking people to sign their petition to shut down the Line 5 oil pipeline that runs very close to Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior.
Google & YouTube 🎞️
In terms of new and noteworthy climate or energy advertisers archived by Google last week, the Resources Legacy Fund ($4,700) is continuing to run ads featuring “outdoor voters” calling on President Biden to establish more national monuments in the West. Check out our Spotlight below to learn more >>>
Snapchat 🤳
There were no new and noteworthy climate or energy advertisers on Snapchat last week.
🔦 Spotlight: The Online Battle for More (and More Respectful) National Monuments
There has been a growing movement within the online climate community during the past several months: the fight to put more national monuments on the map – and to name these monuments, as well as existing ones, in a way that honors the Native communities for whom these lands are both sacred and historic.
Currently, many of the US’s national monuments are concentrated heavily in the Southwest while regions like the Midwest, Pacific Northwest, and Southeast have far fewer. Check out the full map here 👇
And many of these monuments effectively erase the people who have lived there for millennia by either glorifying the people who perpetrated harm against them or by ignoring these places’ traditional names in order to give them English ones.
However, this year, several groups have been using digital tools to fight back and rename and reclaim these lands as US monuments that properly honor Native communities, as well as the wildlife and nature of the US itself.
One notable example of this is the Resources Legacy Fund, a non-profit that focuses on the environment, climate change mitigation, and environmental justice and equity. They have spent over $18,000 in the last 30 days airing one ad in the DMV area. The ad calls on President Biden to continue progress and establish more national monuments in the West to give “outdoor voters” something to connect over and be excited about. Check it out >>>
Another notable example comes from the National Parks Conservation Association. Over the last 30 days, they have spent over $14,000 on Facebook and Instagram, largely on ads that celebrate the newly-founded Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. The monument’s name is a combination of Havasupai and Hope words, and it comes after a combined and determined lobbying effort from twelve tribes to protect their homelands.
Finally, there is another notable push to reclaim and rename historical sites from the Wilderness Society – a group that is also usually a top spender on climate-related advertising. The group recently released a study they completed this year in partnership with Duke University that identified 200 site names across the US that contained offensive language and is working on creating a template that community members can use to fight to change those names. Check out this full debrief on Grist >>>
To be clear, protests against national monuments and sites that glorify oppression have been going on for decades – but the movement seems to be finding new energy by using online tools. For example, right now, you can sign an online petition to rename Devil's Tower National Monument in VA or call on Congress to create the Owyhee Canyonlands National Monument in OR.
The calls for more (and more respectful) national monuments are getting louder and louder – especially as we enter the election year, we will be watching closely to see if President Biden and Congress answer them.
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 10 top-performing public posts (by # of interactions) related to climate and energy on Facebook last week:
Last week, over 12,100 public Facebook posts mentioned climate or energy issues, and they earned a cumulative 772,800 interactions.
Evidently, a post from the conservative twin duo The Hodgetwins went pretty viral this week. The post features a video that mocks the climate protesters in Nevada who blockaded roads near Burning Man this past weekend and were met with extreme force from police and has amassed over 3.1 million views. Check it out here >>>
This was also a big week on climate-related Facebook for Vivek Ramaswamy. Conservative Patriot, as well as other conservative accounts, posted his interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell and claimed Ramaswamy “NUKES MSNBC Host Into ORBIT After She Tries To Blame Climate Change For Hurricane.” See the post here >>>
And finally, Vivek Ramaswamy shared his own climate misinformation post on Facebook, in which he claimed that global warming is a hoax created to let China “catch up” to the US.
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 5.2 million interactions.
The top three climate-related posts on Instagram this past week (in order) came from @leonardodicaprio about a biologist who is flying along with ibises to teach them new migration paths, @femalequotient about Ukrainian eco-entrepreneur Inna Braverman, and @foxnews about climate change and the wildfires in Hawaii.
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>>
Thousands of gallons of water in Minnesota are being used to farm… potatoes specifically grown for McDonald’s french fries (NYT, 9/3)
Climate misinformation about this summer’s extreme weather is growing (NYT, 8/30)
In all the chaos surrounding Burning Man this year, you might have missed the climate protest there that was met with police aggression (Vox, 9/3)
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 lucy@fwiwmedia.com