Lobbying Case Study

Lobbying Case StudyThe Alliance for Climate Protection

European Institute of CommunicationsDiploma, Public Relations

Christopher MehiganJune 29th, 2009

Friday, 17 July 2009

Campaign Brief


Founded in 2006 by former US Vice President and

Nobel Laureate, Al Gore. Friday, 17 July 2009

to demand their political, business and community leaders address the issue of climate change

Engaging individuals, communities and governments across the world


2006

2008

Committed to igniting public action to help

solve the climate crisis

A bold plan to Repower America with 100% clean electricity within 10 years.

Raising awareness of the reality of the coal industry


Outline of Principle Objectives


[...] the importance and urgency of adopting and implementing effective and comprehensive solutions of the climate crisis.


Moving the USA past a tipping point, beyond which the majority of leaders in both major political parties and all sectors of civil society compete to offer genuinely effective proposals [...] that will sharply reduce emissions of greenhouse gas pollutants.


Creating a critical mass of public opinion in support of active US participation in the international effort to enact a genuinely effective new treaty to reduce global greenhouse gas pollution


Generating overwhelming support - within the US and around the globe - for new American leadership in the international efforts to solve the climate crisis


Persuading individuals, families, communities, states, corporations, and other organisations to begin to quickly and meaningfully reduce their own global warming pollution - and to offset the remainder - in order to become “carbon neutral”.

(c) TDR1


Not interested in institutional longevity for its own sake, we expect that once these objectives have been met, other established organisations can carry on the work as necessary and that the Alliance will no longer need to exist as a stand alone entity.


œecansolveit.org

You can’t solve the climate crisis alone. But if œe all work together, œe can.

©2008 The Alliance for Climate Protection.

The American PublicThe Wider Public

LegislatorsCommunity Leaders

Business LeadersPoliticians

AcademicsMedia

Target Publics


Tools and Tactics Used


Unprecedented in scale for a public policy issue, the Alliance for Climate Protection’s “We” Campaign draws from the best practices of successful commercial, social marketing and political campaigns. The We Campaign combines advertising, online organizing and partnerships with a diverse and growing group of grassroots organizations, to educate the American public on the urgent need to solve the climate crisis and activate them to demand real solutions from elected officials


It’s American to disagree. It’s also American to come together in the face of a challenge. And few challenges are as urgent as global climate change. Take one minute to join us at œecansolveit.org and add your voice to millions of others.Together we can solve the climate crisis.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) and Speaker Newt Gingrich (R), Washington, DC

©2008 The Alliance for Climate Protection

It’s American to disagree. It’s also American to come together in the face of a challenge. And few challenges are as urgent as global climate change. Take one minute to join us at œecansolveit.org and add your voice to millions of others.Together we can solve the climate crisis.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) and Speaker Newt Gingrich (R), Washington, DC

©2008 The Alliance for Climate Protection

Advertising Campaigns


You can’t solve

the climate

crisis

It’s too big for one person to solve. It’s going to take all of us, working together. The good news is, the solutions already exist. But the only way œe’re going to get them is by sending a powerful message to our corporations and our government. More than a million people, from all walks of life and across the political spectrum, have already come together to make their voices heard. Now œe need you. Take one minute to join us at œecansolveit.org. Because you can’t solve the climate crisis on your own.

©2008 The Alliance for Climate Protection.

Advertising Campaigns


Spokes-personFormer US Vice President Al Gore

Long standing campaigner for environment

Guest speaker at TED conference in 2006, 2008, 2009

2007 awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with the IPCC for his work raising awareness of climate change

(c) world economic forum 2005


Released in 2006 to wide critical acclaim

Academy Award for best documentary 2006

Stimulated widespread debate and calls for action

Well received politically and credited for stimulating debate

A GlobalWARN ING

what has changed ... is a feeling that we have entered a period of consequences

:Al Gore


Strong online community established

Provision of various “Calls to Action”

Online community is organised, connected and deployable

Online Tools


Similarity to 5 key rules


1) Determine the Inequality• No longer an inequality

• Previously may have focused on amount of investment in Renewable Energy

• Combating Climate Change is now a Global Movement

• Inaction can lead to environmental, economic and humanitarian consequences


2) Demonstrate the inequality• Unique Global aspect to the issue

• Subject to worldwide scientific scrutiny

• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports

• Stern report (UK) economic cost

• Kyoto accord / Bali action Plan

• Demonstrating the existence of actual solutions and alternative technologies and practices


3) Dramatise the Issue• An Inconvenient Truth

• Ongoing advertising and media campaigns

• Al Gore still advancing the issue and informing people

• Continued appearances on international stage (TED)


4) Have it Brought to Issue• Use of community to lobby politicians

• Focussed communication campaigns to keep politicians and companies in the spotlight and held to account

• Promotion of businesses leading with alternative solutions


5) Anticipate the Recourse to Principle

• Fact - removed (IPCC 4th Assessment Report)

• Intent - irrelevant: campaign is not seeking to blame for previous actions, seeks to hold to account for continuing actions

• Means - Highlighting new technologies / demonstrating technological, fiscal and environmental benefits (tackling the economy and the environment)

• Capacity - targeting all sectors, bringing together actors

• Right - Moral issue - about the future which we all have a stake in


Success or otherwise of Campaign


• We Members Forward National Dialogue with Letters to the Editor

• Thousands Urge the Press to Ask Questions on Global Warming

• Stunning Response to Calls for a Global Treaty

• State Department Feels Public Pressure in Run-up to Climate Conference

• Florida Governor Raking on Climate Change

• Colorado Voters Pass Renewable Energy Standards; Governor Doubles Them!

• Wind Energy Is Replacing a History of Oil in One Texas Town


END

Christopher MehiganJune 29th, 2009


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