Here Is What You Need to Know About the Spanish Climate Ad That Played During the GOP Debate

During Wednesday's GOP presidential debate, a Spanish ad played during commercial breaks and slammed republican politicians for their stance on climate change.

The ad ran on the Univision network in cities with sizable Latino populations, such as Phoenix, Atlanta and Washington D.C., among others. The 30-second ad, titled ¿Cuál es su Plan Climático?, featured a Spanish narrator jabbing GOP politicians for promoting climate denial and rejecting the Clean Energy Jobs Act.

Climate Power, an independent communications and media group focusing on addressing climate issues, is behind the ad. According to its website, it counts on the support of the American Progress Action Fund, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Sierra Club. In the past, it has criticized Justice Clarance Thomas for his connections to the oil industry and Ron DeSantis's inept preparations for hurricane season.

Besides digging at GOP hopefuls, the ad highlighted an essential topic for Latinos in the U.S.

Climate change is a crucial issue for Latino communities, as according to a study from Pew Research, 81 percent of Hispanics say that addressing climate change is of high importance to them. In comparison, 67 percent of non-Hispanics stated that climate change was an important topic.

A key reason why the issue is of more importance to Hispanic voters is that they are the ones most impacted by climate change and its adverse effects. One study published in the National Library of Medicine found that Latinos are 21 percent more likely to live in areas prone to heat waves when compared to non-Hispanics.

The past years have shown how much Latinos are affected by climate change and its effects on natural disasters. Early in the year, Latino farm workers in Florida endured a historic heat wave that killed a worker, and a year prior, hurricane Ian displaced thousands of undocumented migrants.