Impact

• Clean School Buses for California

  Clean & Healthy School Bus Act

  In 2022, a bill to make the entire fleet of school buses in California electric passed the House but failed in the state Senate. An updated bill was introduced in early 2023. Throughout 2023, Counterspark utilized both digital and print ads and mobilized Californians to contact their state legislators and Gov. Gavin Newsom. This law commits the state to a 100% zero emission fleet of school buses. Starting in 2035, the state will be required to choose electric for any new school buses. This means cleaner air for the most vulnerable population — children.

• Powering Millions of Homes with Offshore Wind

  Maryland POWER Act

  In 2022, the Maryland legislature adopted the goal for the state to be powered by 100% clean energy by 2040. This year, legislators introduced the POWER Act (Promoting Offshore Wind Energy Resources Act) to make sure the state harnesses its abundant offshore wind resources in hitting that goal. In February 2022, Counterspark sprang into action. Our team worked to mobilize hundreds of Marylanders to contact their elected officials and urge them to vote YES on the bill. On April 21, 2023, Gov. Wes Moore signed this bill into law, paving the way for lower costs and new clean energy jobs!

• Making Virginia a Climate Leader

  Virginia Clean Economy Act

  For years Virginia lagged behind its neighbors in the transition to clean energy, consistently ranking last in the Mid-Atlantic region for clean energy installed. That changed in 2020 when Counterspark, and our allies, launched an ambitious plan to send Virginia from the back of the pack to leading the race. We gave thousands of Virginians a platform to phone and email their elected officials during the state’s 2020 Legislative session, calling for a quick and just transition to 100% clean energy. We demonstrated to lawmakers that clean energy benefits consumers and creates economic growth, and convinced them to pass the Virginia Clean Economy Act, making Virginia the first southern state to commit to 100% clean energy!

• Clean Energy for All

  Federal Action on Climate

  The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act paired with the Inflation Reduction Act mark the largest climate investment in our nation’s history. Passage of either bill was never a certainty and Counterspark jumped into the fray to make the case that investing in clean energy is good for the economy. We ran targeted digital ad campaigns in Arizona, Colorado, and West Virginia to shore up wayward Democratic senators. We also mobilized voters in those states to call on the Senate to make game-changing clean energy tax credits refundable, or “direct pay”, for state and local governments, tribal governments, and nonprofits, and were successful in getting it included in the Inflation Reduction Act. Thanks to this change and others made to the tax code, we expect to see clean electricity to be 60-80% of total electricity generation by 2030, driving CO2 emissions as low as 80% below 2005 levels and dramatically reducing emissions of other pollutants.

• Clean School Buses for New York

  Electric School Buses In New York

  Every day millions of American children breathe in toxic air caused by the school buses they ride in on their way to and from school. That’s why Counterspark works to replace diesel buses with all-electric, non-polluting school buses. In New York, we worked with advocates on the ground to push for replacing the state’s more than 45,000 fossil fuel powered buses with electric school buses. We conducted polling to show public support and mobilized the public in support of going electric. As a result, New York’s General Assembly committed to replacing the state’s entire public school bus fleet by 2035, which will help reduce fuel use by an estimated 86 million gallons per year and leave cleaner air for our children to breathe.

• 100% Clean Energy for Michigan

  Michigan joins the 100% Clean Club & Creates Pathway to Build More Clean Energy

  On November 28, 2023, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed several bills into law to put Michigan on a pathway to 100% clean energy by 2040. She also signed a bill to lend state support to local communities to help ensure clean energy can be built in Michigan to reach this goal. These bills will create jobs in the state and give landowners more say over their land. Counterspark mobilized Michiganders to contact state representatives and senators about these bills, especially the bill to build more clean energy.

• Upgrading Colorado’s Grid

  Colorado Preps Its Electric Grid for an Electrified Future

  With more and more people choosing to electrify appliances, vehicles, and more and an outdated electric grid, our entire nation needs to plan for upgrades. One utility in Colorado alone admitted to having over 4,000 applications waiting to connect to the grid, so this bill was signed into law in the nick of time. This bill was anticipated throughout the session, so Counterspark communicated with existing Colorado supporters about the importance of this issue. When it was finally introduced just before the legislative session ended, Counterspark ran ads to mobilize even more Coloradoans in support of the legislation. These supporters reached out to both their state representative and their state senator, and the bill was passed in just under a week. Gov. Polis signed it into law just a few weeks later.