A $10 million ad buy by media mogul Michael Bloomberg attacking state attorneys general who oppose President Obama’s climate change rules is being labeled as bullying, which could backfire on the campaign.
The ads began circulating in four states last weekend slamming Republican and Democratic attorneys general in Florida, Michigan, Missouri and Wisconsin for suing the Obama administration over its far-reaching emission rules.
“This bully wants to defend the federal government,” while “we want to protect the people we serve,” said Ray Whitney, spokesman for Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Related Story: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2575923
Bloomberg’s ad campaign is meant to shame the states for opposing the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, which requires states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions one-third by 2030. Many scientists say the man-made emissions are to blame for changing the Earth’s climate, resulting in more severe weather, droughts and floods.
Bloomberg has been an advocate for the president’s climate plan, while giving tens of millions of dollars to support a national campaign to close coal plants. The former New York mayor was named by the United Nations to head a special group representing city governments in climate talks that begin Nov. 30 in Paris. President Obama wants the talks to successfully hash out a global deal to reduce emissions. The Clean Power Plan is the centerpiece of the U.S.’s commitment to reach a deal.
The four states being targeted by Bloomberg are part of a 27-state lawsuit seeking to squash the EPA plan, calling it an illegal power grab that violates states’ rights.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuete’s office likened the ad campaign to Bloomberg’s attempts to regulate soft drinks when he was New York’s mayor. Schuete argues that the billionaire’s policies have always been about raising costs for consumers.
“This is an out-of-state billionaire who first tried to take away your Big Gulps and wants you to pay higher utility bills and put your job at risk,” said John Sellek, spokesman for the Michigan attorney general. He says Schuete will fight for Michigan families in opposing the EPA’s rules, which will drive up energy costs.
As for Bloomberg, Sellek said, “Next, he’ll be coming after your trucks and SUVs.”
Observers say the ad campaigns are a bit tone deaf. They say going after state officials because they oppose regulations that drive up costs for consumers isn’t a strong “populist” argument and may not resonate well in his or EPA’s favor.
Bondi said the ad campaign will come across as bullying, plain and simple. Whitney said earlier this week that Florida’s air quality has a “great and conscientious” track record, as opposed to Bloomberg’s characterization.
The ad running in Florida says Bondi is siding with polluters in opposing the Clean Power Plan. Bloomberg advisers say Florida and the other states are directly interfering in the public interests of their citizens by suing to scrap the climate rules.
Whitney said the “billionaire bully” is attacking the state, and indeed all 27 states suing the EPA, for “defending their citizens against … the heavy-handed and unlawful regulations, which will drastically increase Floridians power bills – something this billionaire clearly cares little about.”
As the ad campaign was being started, a new study commissioned by the coal industry was issued last weekend supporting the states’ cost arguments. The study was done by NERA Economic Consulting, which found that the Clean Power Plan will increase energy costs for the 47 states affected by the climate change rule.
The study finds that the average annual U.S. retail electricity rate will increase 11-14 percent a year once the rules are implemented. “For the overall economy, losses to U.S. consumers range from $64 billion to $79 billion on a present value basis” from 2022 to 2033, a study summary reads.
