Adil Trehan, adil.trehan@sierraclub.org
Washington, D.C. — Utilities are trying to greenwash their climate commitments — and a new ad campaign by Sierra Club holds these polluters accountable.
Based on findings of the Club’s “Dirty Truth” report, which documents utilities failing to deliver on climate pledges, the ad campaign demands elected officials ensure that American utility companies transition to clean energy in a rapid, timely manner by making it clear how utility companies’ insufficient action and continued spending on fossil fuels affects their lives, such as the human and personal cost.
The report, released in 2021, can be found here. The campaign is live on-line at https://www.sierraclub.org/dirty-truth
The campaign launches this week with a six-figure ad buy in Atlanta, Phoenix, Charlotte, Denver, Salt Lake City, and St Louis. The Club has partnered with Futerra, an international sustainability strategy and creative agency with offices in London, New York, Mexico City and Stockholm. The creative director for the spot is Derek Doublin, a filmmaker and large-scale artist based in Los Angeles. His production company, The Motion Factory, specializes in branded documentaries and offbeat content.
The next decade is critical to averting the worst impacts of the climate crisis and transforming our economy to run entirely on clean energy. Science shows that unless utilities retire all their coal plants by 2030, abandon all plans to build gas plants, and aggressively build out renewable energy resources, we risk destabilizing our livable climate. Despite this pressing deadline, utilities are either not moving fast enough toward these goals, or not moving at all. Dozens of utilities may have pledged to become “carbon neutral” by 2050 -- but research conducted by the Sierra Club shows that all but a handful of utilities in the United States aren’t moving toward clean energy in the time frame needed to avoid the worst of the climate crisis.
"In this campaign, we aimed to reframe an issue that seems impersonal, electricity generated by fossil fuels, to something that's profoundly personal,” said Futerra’s Chief Creative Officer Warren Beeby. “This ad brings to light the true cost of fossil fuels - our health, our livelihood, and our future - and the truth that many American utility companies are purposefully misleading the public about their commitments to switch to green electricity."
**The ad can be found in its entirety here.**
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.
About Futerra
Futerra is the change agency, joining the magic of creative and the logic of strategy to make sustainability happen. Since 2001, we have pursued the mission of ‘making sustainable development so desirable it becomes normal’. That mission fills our team, and our work with purpose, pride and passion. Today, we’re a fiercely independent and global company: majority owned and led by women, and a founding B-Corp. Our team is based in London, Stockholm, New York and Mexico City and serve clients including Google, IKEA, Danone, WWF, Sierra Club and the United Nations.
About Derek Dublin
Derek Doublin is a multifaceted filmmaker and large-scale artist based in Los Angeles, California. His production company, The Motion Factory, specializes in branded documentaries and offbeat content. As a visual artist, he designs and engineers large scale performance art installations that stand over 8 stories tall and typically employ a cast and crew of over 250 people.