AN ACT
To restrict ecologically harmful advertising, provide sustainability labels, and for other purposes
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
(a). SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the “End Greenwashing Act.”
SEC. 2 FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS.
(a) FINDINGS.— Congress finds that—
(1) The consumption of fossil-fuel is driving the erosion of natural capital in the United States;
(2) Advertising of fossil-fuel boosts sales of these products, which increases aggregate environmental impacts;
(3) Global car and airline advertising in 2019 was responsible for emissions of between 202 and 606 million tons of greenhouse gases;
(4) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change identifies advertising regulation and eco-labelling as policy measures that can shift consumer behavior, improve health, and potentially result in a 40–70% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050;
(5) The Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act (15 U.S.C. § 1333) and the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. § 6501) provide precedents for banning advertisements for harmful products and providing information to consumers;
(6) It is in the government’s interest to restrict advertisements for ecologically harmful products and to require ecological labeling on products with high environmental impacts.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
(a) The term “advertiser” means a person to the extent such person, directly or indirectly, provides an advertising facilitator with monetary consideration or another thing of value for the dissemination of an advertisement to an individual, connected device, or group of individuals or connected devices.
(b) The term “advertisement” means information provided by an advertiser to an advertising facilitator that the advertising facilitator, in exchange for monetary consideration or another thing of value, disseminates to an individual, connected device, or group of individuals or connected devices.
(c) The term “advertising facilitator” means a person to the extent such person—
(1) receives monetary consideration or another thing of value for the dissemination of an advertisement to an individual, connected device, or group of individuals or connected devices; and
(2) collects or processes personal information with respect to the dissemination of the advertisement.
(d) The term “Chairperson” means the Chairperson of the Federal Trade Commission.
(e) The term “disseminate” means, with respect to an advertisement, to transmit, display, or otherwise disseminate the advertisement electronically or through communication by wire or radio.
(f) The term “dissemination” means, with respect to an advertisement, the transmission, display, or other distribution of the advertisement electronically or through communication by paper, wire or radio.
SEC 4. GREENWASHING BAN.
(a) IN GENERAL.—It is illegal to make an environmental claim related to future environmental performance without clear, objective, publicly available and verifiable commitments set out in a detailed and realistic implementation plan that includes measurable and time-bound targets and other relevant elements necessary to support its implementation, such as allocation of resources, and that is regularly verified by an independent third-party expert, whose findings shall be made available to consumers.
(b) PENALITIES.—Non-compliance with the ban shall result in a fine of $20,000 for a person and $100,000 for a legal entity, these amounts being increasable up to the entire amount of expenses devoted to the illegal operation.
SEC 5. RESTRICTIONS ON FOSSIL FUEL ADVERTISING.
(a) IN GENERAL.—After January 1, 2025, fossil fuel advertising on any medium of communication subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission shall be unlawful.
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Fossil fuel advertising is defined as advertising by or for the fossil fuel industry (companies and interest groups in the coal, oil and gas sector), the aviation sector and fossil fuels products and services (fossil fuels, airline tickets, air holidays including package holidays in which airline tickets are included, gas contracts, cruise trips and cars, motorcycles, mopeds and scooters with a fossil or hybrid fuel engine).
(c) EXCEPTIONS.—Fuels whose renewable energy content is deemed to be greater than or equal to 50% are not covered by the ban.
(d) PENALITES.—Non-compliance with the ban shall be punishable by a fine of $20,000 for a natural person and $100,000 for a legal entity, these amounts being increasable up to the total amount of expenses devoted to the illegal operation.
(1) In the event of a repeat offense, the amount of the fines provided for in this subsection may be doubled.
SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT.
(a) The Chairperson shall enforce this Act and the regulations promulgated under this Act in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this Act.