Climate group features pope in new Iowa TV ads

By The Sunlight Foundation

A political group focused on climate change plans to begin airing TV ads in Iowa tomorrow featuring images of Pope Francis, who warned last week of “grave consequences” from global warming and other environmental ills.

The ad buy will be made by NextGen Climate, the climate change advocacy group largely financed by billionaire investor Tom Steyer.

The campaign first surfaced on The Sunlight Foundation’s Political Ad Sleuth Iowa ad feed. A NextGen spokesman would not comment on the buy, but additional details are expected tomorrow.

Documents filed at a CBS-affiliate in Ames, Iowa notes that the ad “quotes from Pope Francis’ message on climate change.”

It’s unclear how substantial the buy will be. To date, the only public documents available show just two 15-second spots on KCCI, set to air during the evening news hour and prime time.

Since shortly after Pope Francis’ official message was released last week, NextGen has been running a 30-second message on their YouTube channel. In addition to the pope, that advertisement also includes still pictures of Republican presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Scott Walker, though it’s unclear if that imagery will be included in the shorter TV ad.

Steyer has poured at least $67 million of his own money into NextGen’s Super PAC. In their May 2015 financial filings with the FEC, Steyer’s $5 million contribution accounted for 99 percent of the group’s total receipts.

The ad buy comes as aspiring presidential candidates tour the state and meet voters ahead of the Iowa caucuses in early February, the first primary or caucus in the nation for both Republicans and Democrats.

“We currently have staff on the ground in Iowa, New Hampshire and Florida engaging communities on the need for climate action and the benefits of clean energy—and getting presidential candidates on the record about their views on climate change and building a clean energy economy,” NextGen spokeswoman Suzanne Henkel said in an earlier emailed statement.

Of course, NextGen is not the only politically active Super PAC in Iowa. Super PACs and other groups loyal to presidential hopefuls have been flooding local TV stations for weeks.

The Sunlight Foundation is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that uses the power of the Internet to catalyze greater government openness and transparency, and provides new tools and resources for media and citizens, alike.