The controversy over a banned ad targeting Scott Brown's environmental record continued in Boston today.
After telling us our ad highlighting the $1.9 million fossil fuel companies spent supporting Scott Brown's campaign was banned for its "political stance," the MBTA back-peddled in the press, telling a Metro reporter the ad would be approved. Minutes later, the MBTA reversed course again, banning the ad as "political campaign speech."
The story is getting picked up by media outlets in Boston and across the country, including the Boston Globe, Boston Herald Huffington Post, the Hill, Grist, and elsewhere.
The text of the ad reads: “Senator Brown: On April 6th you voted to gut the Clean Air Act. Was it because dirty energy companies and their corporate front groups poured more than $1.9 million into your campaign last year? Are you working for people or Big Polluters?”
"We're big fans of public transportation, but the MBTA is way off the mark here," said 350.org's executive director May Boeve. "Banning ads with naked women is one thing, stopping citizens from holding their elected official accountable is another. Just because he's running for office again doesn't mean Sen. Brown should be able to dodge questions about the $1.9 million fossil fuel companies and their allies have spent supporting his campaign."
350.org is also running ads in Ohio targeting democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown over his vote to gut the Clean Air Act as part of a larger campaign to highlight the effect of dirty money in politics.
Over 200 Massachusetts residents donated an average of $40 each to fund the ads targeting Sen. Brown. In the last 24 hours, 350.org has raised another $3,000 from residents to take the banned ads out of the subway in the streets in of Boston. Over 4th of July weekend, the ads will be pulled by dozens of bicycles past iconic places in Boston, as well as Sen. Brown's district office.
"If we can't put our ads on public transit, we'll get them out on bicycles," said Boeve. "Either way, we want Sen. Brown's vote to gut the Clean Air Act to see the light of day."
The outcry from Massachusetts residents over the banning of the ads has been particularly pronounced.
“As a mother of a child with asthma, I wanted to get the word out to local families that Senator Brown voted to gut the Clean Air Act,” said Vanessa Rule, a Boston area mother and activist who organized the downtown rally and donated for the ad. “His campaign benefited from over $1.9 million from the fossil fuel industry, and now he is putting their profits over our health.”
“If Scott Brown’s vote and his campaign contributors are too controversial for MBTA, maybe he should think more carefully about who he is representing,” said Josh Lynch, another local organizer of the clean air fight. “This won’t stop us from getting the word out, we will work harder than ever to raise the money to put the ads somewhere new.”