Billboard Likens Global Warming Believers To Unabomber, Charles Manson, And Fidel Castro
By Samantha Abernethy in News on May 4, 2012 10:00PM
A digital billboard posted on the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290) near Maywood, Ill., likens those who believe in global warming to Ted "Unabomber" Kaczynski, Charles Manson and Fidel Castro. The digital billboard was paid for by The Heartland Institute, which calls itself "a leading source of science and economics questioning claims that man-made global warming is a crisis."
A release from the Heartland Institute writes:
“The most prominent advocates of global warming aren’t scientists,” said Heartland’s president, Joseph Bast. “They are Charles Manson, a mass murderer; Fidel Castro, a tyrant; and Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber. Global warming alarmists include Osama bin Laden and James J. Lee (who took hostages inside the headquarters of the Discovery Channel in 2010).Bast added, “The leaders of the global warming movement have one thing in common: They are willing to use force and fraud to advance their fringe theory.”
Heartland Institute says the billboard was "deliberately provocative" and said they "do not apologize for running the ad, and we will continue to experiment with ways to communicate the ‘realist’ message on the climate.” In other words, looking like crazy extremists was their goal.
But let’s be clear. This is not some “oops” moment by an individual overzealous Heartland employee with catastrophically poor judgment. Quite the reverse. This is a collective act by the Institute expressing its core worldview. These billboards aren’t cheap. A sustained campaign would be a major expense for any group, signed off at the highest levels. Heartland displays the above image on its main website, proudly announcing its campaign and linking to its robust defense of “Our Billboards” on its conference website.