This group is spending a ton of $$$ to warn New Yorkers about hurricane season
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 Environmental Defense Fund is spending big on digital ads to urge New Yorkers and New Jersians to push their representatives to develop a better flood plan
Patagonia is utilizing Snapchat ads to garner support for environmental organizations across the country
Democrats are spreading the word about Biden’s American Climate Corps on social media
Elon Musk’s X ranks as the worst social media platform when it comes to climate misinformation, according to a new report.
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 last week were the American Chemistry Council (AKA the plastics lobby) and the American Petroleum Institute. This dynamic has persisted for weeks.
The Environmental Defense Fund was also among the highest spenders on climate-related digital ads this week. They are running ads on Facebook and Instagram in New York and New Jersey to urge people to get in touch with their representatives and ask for a better flood plan as hurricane season begins.
Another new and notable campaign this week came from the Climate Action Campaign which is running video ads celebrating the one-year anniversary of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and the growth it spurred in the clean energy economy. The ads ran on Facebook and Instagram and featured high-profile Democrats (with each ad running in that elected official’s state). Check out examples from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Ed Markey, and Senator Michael Bennet.
With just under six weeks to go until Election Day 2023, the Virginia League of Conservation Voters is keeping up their drumbeat on Facebook and Instagram and running ads in support of pro-climate VA state house candidates while attacking those who have taken money from corporate polluters.
The Emerson Collective also ran new ads this week centered around Climate Week in NYC. Their ads ran on Facebook and Instagram and invited Climate Week attendees to their public Science Fair to see climate innovation in action (and you can check out some of the booths here).
And finally, for any horse guys or girls, the American Wild Horse Campaign is running ads on Facebook and Instagram nationwide calling out the federal government’s actions that have alleged harmful effects on the US’s wild horse population.
Google & YouTube 🎞️
There were two new and noteworthy climate or energy advertisers archived by Google last week: Maine Affordable Energy ($41,400) is continuing to run ads that tell Mainers to vote no on Question 3 (which would establish a non-profit, customer-owned utility company in Maine) on Election Day 2023, and Clean Jobs for Michigan ($8,900) is continuing to run illustrated video ads that ask Michiganders to call their state senators and thank them for promoting green energy.
Snapchat 🤳
There was one new and noteworthy climate or energy advertiser on Snapchat last week: Patagonia is running ads in support of the Grand Canyon Trust and the Alaska Wilderness League.
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 13,900 public Facebook posts mentioned climate or energy issues, and they earned a cumulative 999,600 interactions.
This week was a big one for Democrats when it comes to climate and energy, and that was definitely reflected on Facebook. Several key Democratic figures, including President Barack Obama and progressive commentator Brian Tyler Cohen, posted to celebrate President Biden’s newly-minted American Climate Corps, which will train young people to take climate action and be a part of the clean energy economy.
In a similar vein, another piece of climate content that garnered a fair amount of attention on Facebook this week is a video of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaking at the March to End Fossil Fuels. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez also spoke about her goal for energy to be available as “public democratically-controlled goods for our most vulnerable communities.” Check it out here >>>
And finally, Occupy Democrats praised President Jimmy Carter’s climate leadership all the way back in the 1970s. President Carter has been in the news recently for appearing at his hometown’s peanut festival just days before his 99th birthday.
Here were the top-performing feed posts (excluding Reels and Stories) related to climate and energy on Instagram last week:
Last week, over 8,000 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 @gretathunberg about her weekly Friday climate strikes, @pubity about Starbucks’ plan to shift away from disposable cups by 2030, and @feminist about Big Oil companies who are most responsible for the climate crisis (P.S. you can check out our full debrief on Shell here).
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>>
Voters and environmental groups really want President Biden to talk about his climate initiatives more (Washington Post, 9/26)
Kid’s TV shows are reckoning with how to talk about climate change (Nexus Media News, 9/22)
Most major food corporations said they would cut emissions… but now, they’re backsliding and need to be held accountable (NYT, 9/22)
X ranks as the worst social media platform when it comes to combating climate misinformation (The Verge, 9/20)
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