"Billboard Wars, Chapter 2 (or Is It 3?)"

"Chicago commuters have all the fun. Two weeks ago, there was the Heartland Institute’s Unabomber billboard likening a belief in climate change to psychopathy. This week, those stuck in traffic missed out on one larger-than-life retort to the Heartland campaign but will get to view another."

"Forecast the Facts, a campaign devoted to accuracy and integrity in weather monitoring, had hoped to advertise in the exact same spot in an ironic format mimicking the Heartland ad. The Heartland billboard had depicted Theodore J. Kaczynski, who killed three people and wounded 23 with mail bombs, alongside the red-lettered words: “I still believe in climate change. Do you?”

Forecast the Facts, which is seeking to persuade corporations to end their donations to Heartland, would have presented the Pfizer pharmaceutical company’s logo alongside similarly imposing red letters reading: 'We still support Climate Deniers. Do you?' Just below, Pfizer’s 2010 donation to the Heartland Institute, which a document circulated this spring put at $130,000, would be shown in small white print.

But it was not to be -- at least not in that billboard location, managed by the Clear Channel Chicago global media and entertainment company. 'We are not an arbiter of positions in any way,' said Jim Cullinan, a Clear Channel spokesman. 'But there’s also legal issues about fair use of images and what we can and can’t do with them.'"

Rachel Nuwer reports for the New York Times' Green blog May 17, 2012.

SEE ALSO:

"Climate Activists Rip Clear Channel for Rejecting Billboard" (E2 Wire/The Hill)

"Meteorologists Chris Landsea and Joe Bastardi Respond To Heartland Billboard Campaign" (Capital Weather Gang/Washington Post)

"Heartland Refugees Start New Think Tank" (Daily Beast)
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/05/15/r-street.html

"R Street Institute, Heartland Insurance Spin-off, 'Will Not Promote Climate Skepticism'" (Huffington Post)

"Heartland Institute Grows Isolated as Three More Donors Disassociate" (Guardian)

"Eli Lilly, BB&T & Pepsi Confirm They Will No Longer Fund the Heartland Institute, Adding To Total Number of Defection" (Paramus Post)

"Heartland’s Board Backs Campaign To Smear Climate Science Believers, Even As Eleven Companies Drop Support" (Climate Progress/Joe Romm)

"Pfizer: We Get ‘Significant Benefits From Our Involvement’ With The Heartland Institute" (Think Progress)

"Pharma Giant Eli Lilly Dumps Climate Deniers At Heartland Institute" (Think Progress)

"Climate Change Believers Split from Heartland Institute" (Slate)