Environmental activists, backed by a billionaire philanthropist, have launched an unprecedented campaign to push voters to elect leaders this November who are willing to confront global warming. The project, called NextGen Climate Action Committee, is intended to bring climate change to the forefront of American politics, environmentalists say. The nonpartisan group, founded by philanthropist Tom Styer in 2013, is on track to spend more than $55 million during election season — an unparalleled amount for an environmentalist group. “This November, it’s time for us to take a stand,” NextGen said on its website. “For far too long, special interests like Big Oil have operated with impunity, polluting our skies and our water, suppressing renewable energies like wind and solar, and contributing to a rapidly changing climate.” To counter that influence, NextGen has funded a series of political ads focused on the climate, including one narrated by actor Woody Harrelson, who said: “They told us the world was flat and insisted it was the center of the universe. They ignored pollution, said that cigarettes were harmless, that leaded gas was safe … Now they tell us climate change is a hoax. Some powerful people want to hold us back.” Progress has been made recently in transforming the issue into a national debate. Senate Democrats have successfully blocked efforts to scrap climate-friendly regulations. But if Republicans, some bankrolled by the fossil fuel industry, take back the Senate, they could roll back those hard-fought environmental safeguards, say activists. Environmentalists, though, have reason for optimism, analysts say. While climate change was rarely mentioned in the 2012 presidential campaign, the 2014 elections appear poised to be the biggest yet for energy and environment-related television ads, according to Elizabeth Wilner of Kantar Media/CMAG, which tracks political advertising.

Targeting climate deniers

NextGen's campaign has supported candidates, elected officials and policy makers who have said they would take bold action on climate change. But the campaign is also designed to expose climate change deniers in television ads and on its website. Florida Gov. Rick Scott, for example, has said, “I’ve not been convinced that there’s any man-made climate change … nothing’s convinced me that there is.” But Florida is already seeing the effects of climate change, NextGen said, adding that 2.4 million people and 1.3 million homes are at risk from rising sea levels. The state has been called "ground zero for climate change" in America. “With rising water already eating away at the coastline and threatening cities, Florida is largely considered ground zero for climate change in the United States,” Katherine Bagley, reporter for Inside Climate News, wrote in August. “Increased flooding in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, disappearing beaches and endangered freshwater supplies are making climate change a top issue in the governor’s race, opinion polling shows.” The contrast between Scott and his Democratic opponent, Charlie Crist, on environmental issues could tip the scales in one of the closest races this year, Bagley added. To help push voters toward electing leaders that will take a stand on climate change, NextGen has partnered with people working against the effects of climate change in their communities to show the reality Americans could face without bold action. A short documentary the organization produced, entitled “Emma’s Fight,” profiles a Michigan woman working to save her community from pollution and disease she believes have been caused by a tar sands refinery adjacent to her Detroit home.