New Ad Challenges Powerful Business Council, Urges Gov Hochul to Prioritize Climate Action & Affordable Energy

ALBANY, NY (03/14/2024) (readMedia)-- Yesterday, Spring Street Climate Action and Earthjustice Action released a new ad directly responding to the Business Council of New York State's campaign to slow down New York's climate plan. The ad, the second in a series featuring everyday New Yorkers who are benefitting from New York's climate policies, features River Run B&B owner Ben from Fleischmanns, NY. Ben saves $5,000 every winter after New York State's climate programs helped him afford heat pumps throughout his business, and urges Governor Hochul to move full speed ahead on New York's climate plan.

Watch the ad here.

"Corporate polluters want you to believe otherwise, but ambitious climate policies can save money for working families and help with New York's affordability crisis," said Spring Street Climate Action President John Raskin. "It's true for all of the New Yorkers we're highlighting in our ad campaign. And if Governor Hochul moves to fully implement our state's climate plan, families and businesses all over the state can save money while doing our part to protect the planet."

Liz Moran, New York Policy Advocate for Earthjustice, said, "The fossil fuel industry and big corporations only care about their bottom lines – not saving regular New Yorkers money and making their homes and communities safer. Despite their ongoing, deep-pocketed misinformation campaigns to delay climate action, the reality is that heat pumps are popular because they are both cleaner and cut energy costs. This is the future New Yorkers want to see, and New York's climate law sets the pathway to make it a reality."

In the first ad in this series, produced by Spring Street Climate Action, Enos, a homeowner from Bellport, Long Island, describes how his energy bills plummeted to $15 per month (from $200 per month) after support from NY State programs helped him install solar panels on his home.

Spring Street's ad campaign is a direct response to a push launched by the powerful Business Council, an organization representing corporate interests including fracked gas polluters and other companies invested in maintaining the unhealthy status quo. In late 2023, the Business Council and other corporate interests announced a multimedia effort pushing Governor Hochul to slow down climate action. In response, Spring Street's ad campaign shows vivid examples of how climate action helps New Yorkers in their day-to-day lives and urges Governor Hochul to reject corporate lobbying and fully enact the Climate plan. As the ad campaign ramps up, Earthjustice Action is now joining to amplify the core message and reach more New Yorkers.

The current ad campaign will run on multiple platforms this spring.