The online fight over Line 3 in Minnesota
Polluting groups have spent over $95k this year promoting the pipeline project
While climate groups and Native communities in Minnesota are fighting fiercely on the ground to stop the construction of Enbridge’s Line 3 in their state, proponents of the pipeline have spent nearly $100,000 on Facebook ads promoting it. And they’re not alone - the American Petroleum Institute, the Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association, and ExxonMobil have also been targeting Minnesotans with pro-fossil fuel ads for months.
Here’s how spending among climate groups and polluters on Facebook ads so far this year breaks down:
While API, under their “Energy Citizens” page, is the highest spender among polluting groups targeting Minnesota, they don’t seem to be running any MN-specific campaigns, and the same goes for ExxonMobil. You can check out our coverage of some of their latest campaigns here.
As for Enbridge, they haven’t run a high quantity of Facebook ads. While some advertisers will run hundreds of versions of similar ads within a campaign, usually to test which is the most effective, the fuel company is instead dumping thousands or tens of thousands of dollars into a handful of ads. For example, they spent at least $25k on one Facebook ad targeting mostly young adults in MN that argues that Line 3 is environmentally safe. Another, targeted at a similar audience, appears to argue that Native communities are actually positively involved in Line 3’s construction.
Enbridge is also getting air cover from pro-polluter special interest groups in Minnesota and nationwide. The Minnesota Ag-Energy Alliance and the Consumer Energy Alliance, which has also run ads in other Midwestern states promoting pipelines, have together spent nearly $50k on Facebook ads this year arguing that Line 3 will bring a lot of “monies” to economically hard-hit communities. Both of the groups’ ads mostly target young adults in the state.
Finally we have Minnesotans for Line 3, whose mission is in the name. The so-called grassroots group, founded by the former CEO of a pipeline construction company, has spent the least on Facebook ads among pro-pipeline groups, but they’ve taken the novel approach of promoting positive testimonials to make an argument for Line 3’s “positive” impacts in northern Minnesota.
The targeting of these ads vary depending on the testimonial. It looks like testimonials from men are mostly targeted at men in the state, while the testimonials from women are mostly targeted at young women in the state.
Relatedly, climate groups and industry associations have also been targeting Minnesotans with Facebook ads arguing for or against electric vehicles. The most prominent spenders in this fight are the Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association, under the Facebook page name “Drive Away California Cars,” and Minnesotans for Clean Cars.
The two groups have each spent just over $10k on Facebook ads this year on the issue, obviously with very different goals. “Drive Away California Cars” is leaning against anti-California sentiments to pressure Gov. Tim Walz away from banning gas-powered vehicles in Minnesota. Meanwhile, Minnesotans for Clean Cars is arguing that because transportation is the biggest source of emissions in the state, switching to electric vehicles would provide cleaner air and improved public health.
While the Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association’s ads mostly target men and older residents in the state, Minnesotans for Clean Cars mostly target their Facebook ads at young adult Minnesotans.
Finally, we’d like to note that the Laborers' International Union of North America chapters in Minnesota and North Dakota are running Facebook ads in support of striking workers at a Marathon oil refinery near St. Paul, under the page name “Build Better MN.” They’re arguing for a boycott of Speedway gas stations until Marathon pays its own workers standard wages instead of employing out-of-state workers to whom Marathon can pay a less-than-standard wage.