UPDATE5: 5/5/10:30AM Donna Laframboise pulls out of the conference.
http://nofrakkingconsensus.com/2012/05/05/why-i-wont-be-speaking-at-the-heartland-conference/
Instead, those of us who had accepted Heartland’s invitation to take part in its conference found ourselves blindsided – a mere two weeks before the conference is set to begin – by a torrent of negative press. Suddenly, we were all publicly linked to an organization that thinks it’s OK to equate people concerned about climate change with psychopaths.
Blindsided is right. AFAIK, not one attendee was given the courtesy of weighing in on the billboard campaign beforehand, and if I had been given that courtesy my answer would have been a resounding NO. Instead, I believe we all got the notice after the fact.
UPDATE4: 7PM PST Heartland issues a press release ending the billboard
May 4, 2012 – The Heartland Institute has pulled its global warming billboard starring Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber whose manifesto expressed his belief in catastrophic man-caused global warming. The digital billboard ran for exactly 24 hours along the Eisenhower Expressway near Chicago in the suburb of Maywood, Illinois.
The following statement by Heartland Institute President Joseph Bast may be used for attribution. For more information, please contact Director of Communications Jim Lakely at jlakely@heartland.org or 312-377-4000.
“This provocative billboard was always intended to be an experiment. And after just 24 hours the results are in: It got people’s attention.
“This billboard was deliberately provocative, an attempt to turn the tables on the climate alarmists by using their own tactics but with the opposite message. We found it interesting that the ad seemed to evoke reactions more passionate than when leading alarmists compare climate realists to Nazis or declare they are imposing on our children a mass death sentence. We leave it to others to determine why that is so.
“The Heartland Institute doesn’t often do ‘provocative’ communication. In fact, we’ve spent 15 years presenting the economic and scientific arguments that counter global warming alarmism. No one has worked harder, or better, on that task than Heartland. We will continue to do that – especially at our next International Conference on Climate Change in Chicago from May 21 – 23.
“Heartland has spent millions of dollars contributing to the real debate over climate change, and $200 for a one-day digital billboard. In return, we’ve been subjected to the most uncivil name-calling and disparagement you can possibly imagine from climate alarmists. The other side of the climate debate seems to be playing by different rules. This experiment produced further proof of that.
“We know that our billboard angered and disappointed many of Heartland’s friends and supporters, but we hope they understand what we were trying to do with this experiment. We do not apologize for running the ad, and we will continue to experiment with ways to communicate the ‘realist’ message on the climate.”
========================================================
UPDATE3: 3:15PM PST I saw this private letter to Joe Bast earlier from Ross McKitrick, and I agreed with Ross in a reply. He has posted it on Climate Audit so I’ll share an excerpt here:
He wrote: “This kind of fallacious, juvenile and inflammatory rhetoric does nothing to enhance your reputation…”
“…hands your opponents a huge stick to beat you with, and sullies the reputation of the speakers you had recruited. Any public sympathy you had built up as a result of the Gleick fiasco will be lost–and more besides–as a result of such a campaign. I urge you to withdraw it at once.”.
UPDATE2: 1PM PST
From Joe Bast via email:
We will stop running it at 4:00 p.m. CST today. (It’s a digital billboard, so a simple phone call is all it takes.)
UPDATE: I’ve added a simple poll at the bottom to gauge opinion on this issue. – Anthony
There’s a disturbance in the farce. Tom Nelson captures these:
Do you believe global warming is real, poses risks to the environment, and needs to be addressed? The Heartland Institute, a think-tank based in Chicago which has promoted climate skepticism, wants you to know you’re in some sinister company.
Twitter / @eilperin: In new ads, the Heartland …
In new ads, the Heartland Institute suggests only terrorists believe in the link b/w human activity and global warming: wapo.st/IOUuEI
Predictably, ThinkProgress/Climate Progress is all bent out of shape.
But Joe Romm and Brad Johnson (who now also runs “Forecast the Facts” to hassle TV weatherpeople) think nothing of making a similar comparison about “deniers”.
Speaking of “mass murderers and madmen”….
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2011/07/25/277564/norway-terrorist-is-a-global-warming-denier/
Romm of course will be unable to embrace his own hypocrisy, because he’s reportedly paid a six figure sum by the Center for American Progress to write the hateful detritus he produces daily.
That said, I’ll be blunt; I think Heartland’s billboard campaign is a huge misstep, and does nothing but piss people off and divide the debate further. IMHO it isn’t going to win any converts, and had they asked me I would have told them that it is a bad idea that will backfire on them.
Here’s what they have issued in a press release about it:
May 03, 2012May 3, 2012 – Billboards in Chicago paid for by The Heartland Institute point out that some of the world’s most notorious criminals say they “still believe in global warming” – and ask viewers if they do, too.
Heartland’s first digital billboard – along the inbound Eisenhower Expressway (I-290) in Maywood – is the latest effort by the free-market think tank to inform the public about what it views as the collapsing scientific, political, and public support for the theory of man-made global warming. It is also reminding viewers of the questionable ethics of global warming’s most prominent proponents.
“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.” For more about the billboards and why Heartland says people should not still believe in global warming, click here.
Ugh. Ugly.
There’s more than enough climate ugliness to go around. Though, it seems harder and harder to find this ultimate warmist embarrassment.
Anybody that can help with Donna’s suggestion?
And there’s many more examples of climate ugliness from the left that we’ve seen.
On another note, the serially mendacious commenter known as “Dorlomin” left this comment over at the Romm shop:
dorlomin says:
I thought I should clear this up. First, “dorlomin” of course is all about smear, that’s his MO, and the MO of the many anonymous cowards who purvey such things without having any integrity or courage themselves.
Second, the simple fact is that I didn’t know about the association of the person making the claim that “Climate skepticism could soon be a criminal offence in UK
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/07/19/climate-skepticism-could-soon-be-a-criminal-offence-in-uk/
Third, when I learned who was behind the story, I immediately took it down because it was an inappropriate source, just like I don’t post videos from LaRouche and other fringe organizations.
Of course “dorlomin” and left foot forward would have you believe that I consort with these folks and have them over for drinks and dinner, rather than the fact that once I learned more, I found them offensive and immediately deleted the story. It was my mistake for not checking sources further.
“dorlomin” is of course playing the very hate game he rants about, and is hypocritically blind just like Romm. The only difference is that one is paid to produce propoganda and the other is a coward.
But will Climate Progress delete their offensive story about climate deniers and terrorists? Not likely, it would hurt their sales figures image.
POLL:
Note: multiple anti vote stuffing features are enabled in this poll. I’ve made the questions simple so that editorial bias in the questions is minimal.
Phil Ford,
Ever think of asking them what’s so dishonest about quoting a lunatic like Kazynski?
He doesn’t sound any different than most of the alarmist crowd, does he?
Being right isn’t always good enough.
Some things are better left unsaid.
Heartland would be better served by giving people enough information for them to draw their own inescapable conclusions.
If I wasn’t clear enough in the previous post, I suggest the billboard be redesigned with Peter Gleick in handcuffs during his perp ……anticipated
Fair is fair. He IS a criminal. Let it be widely known that when you are a warmist you are in the company of criminals. Sound crass? Their crimes are crass. If you don’t want to be lumped in with the criminals, then speak out against them.
We wouldn’t need prisons and cops and shackles if the world was uniformly polite. There is a place for those who have attempted to ruin science through fraud at my/our expense. The worst of them, Gleick, Mann and Jones…. have this erudite pretense that make the crassness they should endure all the more deserving.
Just make them stop – this is stupid.
Harrison Schmidt and Buzz Aldrin would be better billboard choices. Astronauts are some of the only real heroes left that folks will listen to. Get some short, to-the-point quotes from them, and run with it. Invite them to the Conference. Great publicity.
The biggest problem with the pr mini-offensive is that it lacks obvious humor, laughs. It could have been funny if it was paired with the warmista agitprop of the same ilk, for comparison purposes. Rather it feels like a teenage stunt, or an attempt of Heartland to try to get iconic “evil dude” status from the delusional lefties, like the “Koch Brothers” do. Those type of obsessions have the unintended benefit of broadcasting the target’s message even further.
Also, it seems to be a “righty” type of failed discussion which really is a diversion. That is, if your Any Rand-type view of the world is challenged by the facts of corporate and business involvement in the CAGW discourse and games, these sorts obsessively point at some screaming lefty control freaks as the “reason” and force behind CAGW. To see the business sides would place them in deep depression because rea;ity their Rand-ish view of the world that sees big business, or “industrialists,” as working for the common good by pursuing their own specfic, special individual money interests. If those last words don’t make a logical connection to you, you are not a right wing business fetishist.
Also, the campaign is amateur hour because it does not distringuish global warming from aspect of its amount, or the anthropogenic issue.
I do believe that Heartland Institute people have been relentlessly smeared (as have you Anthony, and so many others, as all readers here know). But this billboard simply surrendered to the frustration and disgust that so many feel, saying “you smear us, now we’ll smear you right back!”
Of course the fact that murderers and psychopaths may have a particular view on something does not (logically) imply that others holding that view share anything else in common. Hitler and Himmler were reportedly vegetarians and nature lovers, but that doesn’t imply that vegetarians or nature lovers share other views in common with H&H, etc.
[I am something of a nature lover but not at all a vegetarian!]
I don’t think ‘shockvertising’ works as though it may draw a lot of attention it can backfire by debasing, as well as losing, supporters of the product or idea being promoted.
Wiki: “This form of advertising is often controversial, disturbing, explicit and crass, and may entail bold and provocative political messages that challenge the public’s conventional understanding of the social order.
“This form of advertising may not only offend but can also frighten as well, using scare tactics and elements of fear to sell a product or deliver a public service message, making a high impact.
“Perceptual defense is the tendency for people to protect themselves against ideas, objects or situations that are threatening.This means that if a consumer finds a certain kind of advertising content threatening or disturbing, this message will be filtered out.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shock_advertising
I don’t know how many there are but, there is a dorlomin here:
http://s39.photobucket.com/profile/dorlomin/index
It’s been pulled,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/heartland-institute-launches-campaign-linking-terrorism-murder-and-global-warming-belief/2012/05/04/gIQAJJ3Q1T_blog.html
“4 p.m. update: Heartland Institute President and CEO Joe Bast has issued the following statement:
We will stop running [the billboard] at 4:00 p.m. CST today. (It’s a digital billboard, so a simple phone call is all it takes.)
The Heartland Institute knew this was a risk when deciding to test it, but decided it was a necessary price to make an emotional appeal to people who otherwise aren’t following the climate change debate.”
Just because the “new deniers” (warmist) sling mud from the gutter; it’s better to step away from the gutter than to jump into also. Heartland’s reputation has been harmed with this, and the results will be that they have done what the other side couldn’t.
You don’t bring a bag of marshmallows and a hand full of willow sticks to a gun fight and expect to survive the battle. Same thing when you are fighting catastrophic global warming alarmism. Playing nice nice and acting like tolerant gentlemen simply won’t work. It is a knock down, no holds barred, brass knuckle, take no prisoners battle that we can’t afford to lose. They refuse to play honestly and honorably so we should pull no punches. When they are down we must make sure they stay down!
Heartland just sharked. Shame on them.
I have no issue with this tactic. You can hold true to Marquis of Queensbury rules if you like but after I get booted in the boys, I figure the opposition has decided to widen the boundaries of the contest. We’ve had much, much worse leveled on us not the least of which is the daily attribution of “flat-earthers” and “denier”.
What a bunch of wheezy old women you people are. These people want to take your money and your freedom from you and then spit on you for believing in God or capitalism or sharing code or whatever. They have complete contempt for you and every value you hold dear. Not only is this billboard accurate it is coming at just the right time. I keep telling people that Alarmists deserve no better place in society than Birthers or Truthers. Most people have never absorbed anything about “climate change” except what they get in the background from mass media. If you have some kind of belief that you are participating in some sort of battle here then the name of the game is to influence these people. They already know instinctively that this is some sort of tree hugger nonsense but, hey, never really thought about it being cool or not. Show the faces that let them know they don’t want to be associated with these people and that mind set.
Keep the billboards up. If the usual suspects cry foul, give ’em the bird and keep firing. Make your point to the average voter. “You believe in global warming? What are you, some kind of nut?” Again and again without fear.
A lot of you are Breitbart fans. Watch one of his last videos and listen to the last three words he speaks. Take it to heart.
http://www.mrctv.org/videos/trailer-hating-breitbart-explicit-version
Poptech says:
May 4, 2012 at 1:51 pm
It’s been pulled,
[…]
The Heartland Institute knew this was a risk when deciding to test it, but decided it was a necessary price to make an emotional appeal to people who otherwise aren’t following the climate change debate.”
——————————————————–
Someone at Heartland is very very stupid.
Anybody that can help with Donna’s suggestion?
I can’t find any contact info or a way to respond on her site. Would you please forward my contact info?
You can either take the high road or circle the wagons. I thought taking the high road was working rather well for Heartland. It could also hurt their court case if they are planning one against Gleick. Credibility would be a factor and now Heartland has lost much of that.
That strikes me as making the same error as a recent quote i read indicating that all non-warmists are also flat earthers and creationists. People have a very wide range of beliefs and seldom are the various topics linked. Anti-abortionists are not necessarily religious or pro-murder of doctors for example. There are many other examples of closely held beliefs/opinions that do not fit a simplistic pattern.
I know very little about HI, really only as sponsors of a climate conference, the Gleick affair and now this. One good, one victim and one clanger. They have certainly lost credibility from this.
At least that indicates they had credibility to lose – unlike many.
My first thoughts were that their website might have been hacked. Unfortunately not. Epic fail chaps.
Another unfortunate faux pas for Heartland is that most sceptics don’t actually disbelieve in global warming – depending on the start date of course (I know it’s been flat for the last several years). We only question the cause and the magnitude.
On a positive note: When was the last time we saw warmists being so morally critical of one of their own? Doesn’t the very religious nature of environmentalism prevent them from criticising or questioning, lest the bubble bursts?
And if this billboard had replaced the words “still believe” with “don’t believe” you can bet they’d all be championing it, as we know Romm essentially already has. It’s good to be reminded of the different behaviours in the two camps.
Going forward, Heartland would do well to take down the billboard and issue an apology for the appalling judgement.
That kind of stuff is a major fail for the alarmists, it cannot possibly be a success for the sceptics. Every time I see an alarmist pull a similar stunt, I chuckle to myself knowing that it only serves to illustrate their specious arguments and places their true nature on display for all to see. It’s a disappointment to see Heartland take such a low road.
Hi Anthony – I am really pleased you took a leadership role in rejecting such inappropriate behavior! There is no place for such attacks in the discourse on climate science issues. Best Regards Roger Sr.
Nothing wrong with taking the gloves off, but I seriously doubt this will work out the way Heartland hoped it would. Perhaps they expected the billboards to drive people to their website to read their justifications and get a quality education in the bargain? If so, I think they could have found more effective and less risky ways of doing so. Example: display an outrageous radical greenie quote along with pictures of Gore and Kaczynski, and ask which said it. Answer can be found at heartland.org. Point taken even by those who don’t click through. I bet they were trying to emulate the very successful revulsion-by-association antismoking billboard campaign of several years ago. Fail.
Sadly, Heartland = a think tank, with strong emphasis on the second word. I hope I’m wrong.
What incredibly poor taste.
On Warmists comment sections I have been called all kinds of names but always keep my relative cool. As Napoleon once said:
Sadly Heartland interrupted them. Warmists’ nasty tactics have been one reason they are inadvertently stoking skepticism.