Bloomberg's Backchannel

This Week's Trend In Brief:

• Michael Bloomberg just added $200 million to the billions he has spent on climate change activism, but this time, he is skipping the advocacy campaigns and directly shaping local government policies by infusing them with his cash.
   

• It’s not the first time Bloomberg has undertaken such an initiative. In 2011, Bloomberg began funding the “C40 Cities” initiative, a global network of mayors “collaborating to deliver the urgent action needed right now to confront the climate crisis,” and in 2018 he launched the American Cities Climate Challenge to provide “powerful resources … to 25 U.S. Mayors as they accelerate climate action.” 
   

• These initiatives build on Bloomberg’s venture activism to produce outside pressure on lawmakers and regulators, which often goes beyond funding to ensure seemingly local, on-the-ground grassroots groups have sophisticated policy, technical, and legal expertise at their disposal.
   

• This new reality means energy companies can increasingly face local and even state policymakers who have already chosen a policy direction regardless of how that impacts energy reliability, affordability, market choice, or the real path to our energy future.
   

• To keep their organizations ahead of this challenge, energy public affairs professionals must dig deep to understand who they are really up against, how they are funded, which policymakers and regulators they can sway, and how to anticipate their next moves.

Digging Deeper:

 
Last month, Michael Bloomberg made his latest multimillion-dollar pledge, committing to spend $200 million for his new “American Sustainable Cities” program to help local governments across the country “invest in revitalized infrastructure.” Bloomberg Philanthropies promised “the initiative will provide deep support to selected cities to pursue transformative solutions in the buildings and transportation sectors” and help participating cities leverage and implement federal funds to build “on the longtime leadership of U.S. cities to confront the crisis of climate change.” 
 
This program is not the first time Bloomberg has undertaken such an initiative to directly finance local government climate activism. In 2011, Bloomberg began funding C40 Cities, “a global network of nearly 100 mayors … united in action to confront the climate crisis.” With Bloomberg’s financial backing, the initiative helps cities design and adopt “resilient and inclusive” climate action plans and “take all possible steps to accelerate the full decarbonisation of electricity, heating, cooling, cooking and the phasing out of fossil fuels.” More recently, In 2018, Bloomberg created the American Cities Climate Challenge, which “provides powerful resources and support to 25 U.S. mayors as they accelerate climate action.” The initiative helped San Jose, California ban natural gas in new buildings by giving a grant to switch to renewable energy sources with technical assistance from NRDC. These climate-specific initiatives also leverage Bloomberg’s broader economic and social justice initiatives, such as What Works Cities, “the largest-ever philanthropic effort to enhance cities’ use of data” by providing “city leaders with robust technical support” and “access to expertise” to better use “evidence and data to engage the public” and measure progress. Likewise, Bloomberg CityLab was launched in 2020 “to find solutions to the most pressing challenges facing cities around the world” by connecting city officials with innovators and experts to address challenges from climate issues to social justice and more. 
 
These programs operate alongside Bloomberg’s venture activism to produce outside pressure on lawmakers and regulators, which provide direct funding as well as sophisticated resources and support to seemingly local, on-the-ground grassroots groups. For example, in 2019 Bloomberg launched his $500 million “Beyond Carbon” campaign, “the largest-ever coordinated campaign against climate change” in the U.S. Last fall, Bloomberg pumped another $500 million into the campaign with the goal of phasing out all fossil fuel energy and scaling up renewable production. In 2022, Bloomberg launched his $85 million “Beyond Petrochemicals” campaign targeting proposed petrochemical projects in Louisiana, Texas, and the Ohio River Valley.  As we noted on the anniversary of “Beyond Petrochemicals,” the campaign “changed the game on the Gulf Coast” by providing “activists with unprecedented funding, subject matter expertise, and litigation support in their fights against industry.” While “Beyond Petrochemicals” has primarily focused its efforts on LNG facilities, “its fight against energy infrastructure ironically targets many of the climate solutions that alongside natural gas can reduce carbon emissions.”
 
This new reality means energy companies can increasingly face local and even state policymakers who have already chosen a policy direction regardless of how that impacts energy reliability, affordability, market choice, or the real path to our energy future. As we have detailed before, billions from Bloomberg and others like him have professionalized an increasingly organized activist base, and climate activists have expanded their advocacy beyond targeting fossil fuel projects and companies. This new form of activism highlights how activists have become uncompromising in their demands and oppose even renewable or clean energy projects that they believe will harm more than help. Alongside this activism, local policymakers are placing barriers to potential renewable energy projects as residents voice skepticism and concerns about the purported benefit of these facilities. Bloomberg’s “American Sustainable Cities” program is the latest example of how funders augment this activism by operating alongside it while framing decarbonization as a way to help residents modernize their communities despite concerns about market choices or energy reliability. 
 
Companies hoping to build the energy transition must understand all the stakeholders involved, what motivates them, and how to make sure facts stay at the head of the debate. To keep their organizations ahead of these challenges and others like them, energy public affairs professionals need to dig deep to understand who they are really up against, how they are funded, which policymakers and regulators they can sway, and how to anticipate their next moves. Understanding how these groups operate and what actions they will take next is also essential to prevent top activists from delaying or stymying projects that advance both America’s energy needs and climate objectives. At Delve, we ensure public affairs professionals deploy a playbook to know which stakeholders they can engage productively and which opponents they will have to overcome.

Trends in Energy is your weekly look at key trends affecting the energy industry, brought to you by the competitive intelligence experts at Delve. As the political and regulatory landscape continues to shift, reach out to learn how our insights can help you navigate these challenges.