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Battle of the climate-change billboards rages on
After the Heartland Institute compared global warming to the Unabomber, two climate activism groups decided to strike back.
Fri, May 18 2012 at 12:30 PM
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Photo: Climate Reality Project
Only in America. Two weeks after the Heartland Institute erected billboards equating belief in global warming with extremists like the Unabomber, two climate activism groups have returned fire. Al Gore's Climate Reality Project will soon erect a set of billboards in Chicago that ask "Who to believe on climate — Heartland? ... or EVERY National Scientific Academy in the world?"
Another group called Forecast the Facts was also planning a set of billboards that would have attacked specific corporate donors to the Heartland Institute. A mockup shown by the New York Times displays the Pfizer logo and the headline "We still support Climate Deniers. Do you?" Pfizer donated $130,000 to the anti-climate think tank in 2010.
Those Pfizer billboards won't be seen by drivers any time soon, though: Billboard company Clear Channel Outdoor has rejected them, saying the use of corporate logos violates fair use and trademark law. "There's a big difference between a public image of the Unabomber and a specific trademark in terms of legality," Clear Channel spokesperson Jim Cullinan told the Times. Cullinan told The Hill that the Unabomber billboards were approved because the photos were in the public domain.
But Forecast the Facts accuses Clear Channel of lying. According to a statement the organization released May 17, Clear Channel told them in a phone conversation that they "would not approve a billboard that criticized corporations" and did not mention trademark law.
At least 11 major corporate donors have pulled their backing from the Heartland Institute since the Unabomber billboard, including PepsiCo, State Farm and General Motors. Pfizer remains a Heartland supporter. A Pfizer spokesperson told the Times that the company does not agree with the Heartland Institute's position on climate change, although it does agree with the group on issues related to health care.
Forecast the Facts also planned to criticize Microsoft and Comcast in its billboards. Microsoft has donated at least $10,000 to the Heartland Institute, and Comcast has donated at least $25,000. "Our goal was to highlight Pfizer and other corporations' support of the Heartland Institute," campaign manager Brad Johnson told the Times. "The question to ask is whether these corporations are based on a foundation of science or on a foundation of profit."
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well this Heartland organization is nothing but a smokescreen - literally. They have worked with such "reputable" companies like Phillip Morris on a campaign denying the effects of second-hand smoke to Exxon (no wonder they try to deny global climate change). Nothing but another propagandist shell of rich corporations.
Lets see, we dump trillions of tons of CO2, a known greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere over the course of 50 years and expect nothing to happen? The energy companies have to spend a lot of money to sell that fantasy.
The scientific report I enjoyed the most was the one warning me abou global cooling. That one did not sell so well. We have had countless warnings about global warming, this was not selling so well so climate change became the new one. Climate change has been much easier to sell because climate change has been going on for the past millioin, billion? years and is mosg likely to continue. We are not likely to change climate change but we will give it a try.
Please show us this report you "enjoyed".
Popular press magazines do not count. They are not subject to peer review and peer reviewed science never made such a claim.
Mini ice age in the middle 1800, Year of No Summer.
Coldest days on record during the 1940's
Many of the passes in Alaska were not accessable by ship in the 17-1800"s and it melted BEFORE the 1900's
I don't know who's fault it is but I did not do it.
The mini ice age about 1883 was caused by Krakatoa...
While I do understand what you are saying about not resorting to "coming down to their level" - I also understand that the average person is like a 5 year old child when having to choose between a cartoon or an adult golf match. In a world full of loud propaganda, sometimes you have to yell a little to get heard.
Congratulations to the Climate Reality Project and Forecast the Facts. I would appreciate any list of the corporate backers of Heartland Institute.
I'll admit that I just googled what you had asked for, but I came across a relevant website about a list of sponsors that ThinkProgress Green was able to obtain from the Heartland Institute.
The link:
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/02/17/428111/exposed-the-19-public...