New Ads Pressure Rep. Kean Jr. to Oppose Big Oil Immunity 

The ads connect rising gas prices and concerns about public health with the fossil fuel industry’s attempts to get Congress to grant immunity from climate accountability efforts

Trenton, NJ – The group Fossil Free Media released two new ads this week pressuring Rep. Kean Jr. to oppose efforts by big oil and gas corporations to get Congress to grant them immunity from lawsuits and legislation that aim to hold them accountable for climate damages. The ads come as New Jersey families and small businesses are being squeezed by average gas prices around $4 a gallon, putting even more pressure on household and operating budgets.

“Rep. Kean Jr. is going to be a key voice on whether or not Congress grants Big Oil blanket immunity for all the harms caused by their pollution,” said Cassidy DiPaola, communications director for Fossil Free Media, a nonprofit that helps lead the Make Polluters Pay coalition that’s building public support for polluter accountability. “New Jerseyans are already paying hand over fist at the pump. With gas prices hovering around $4 a gallon, families and small businesses are already stretched thin. Big Oil doesn’t need another handout that will end up making us pick up the costs of their pollution.”

The first ad, “We’re Already Paying,” connects the dots between the rising cost of gas at the pump and oil and gas companies lobbying for corporate immunity.

“While you’re paying more and more at the pump, Big Oil CEOs are raking in billions,” says a voiceover. “Now Washington insiders are lobbying to give them corporate immunity so you pay the costs of their pollution.”

The second ad, “Keep Us Safe,” positions Big Oil’s lobbying for immunity in the context of other corporate efforts to secure a ‘get out of jail free’ card.

“Pesticides. Toxics. Big Oil,” a young woman says directly to the camera. “All these corporations are lobbying Congress to give them immunity. So they never have to pay for poisoning our kids, jacking up prices, or destroying our environment. Tell Congress: no immunity for corporate polluters.”

The five-figure ad buy will keep both ads up on social media platforms and websites visited by people within Kean Jr.’s district over the next month.

According to a poll last year by Data for Progress and Fossil Free Media, 71% of voters agree that oil and gas companies should pay their fair share of climate costs and 65% (including a majority of Republicans) oppose efforts to grant the industry immunity.

Cities and states across the country are already facing the rising costs of climate disasters, which Bloomberg News estimated cost the US economy over $1 trillion last year. Those costs are passed onto everyday Americans in the form of higher taxes, electricity bills, home insurance rates, and more.

A growing number of cities and states are now filing lawsuits and attempting to pass legislation that would force oil and gas companies to pay for a small percentage of the climate damages that can be tied directly to their pollution. In 2024, New York and Vermont became the first states to pass “climate superfund” bills that would raise billions from oil and gas companies, reducing costs for families and small businesses.

According to reporting by the New York Times and others, the industry is now pushing back hard. The American Petroleum Institute has identified stopping climate accountability efforts as one of their top political priorities for the year. The industry is currently lobbying Congress to grant them a liability waiver, much like the gun industry received, so that they can never be held accountable.

Rep. Kean Jr. is seen as a key voice in this debate because of his public commitment to keep costs low for his constituents and his willingness to break with his party on some controversial measures in the past.