Heartland Institute Billboard Compares Climate Scientists to Unabomber

On May 4, 2012, the Heartland Institute erected a digital billboard on the Eisenhower Expressway near Chicago featuring Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber) with text reading “I still believe in global warming. Do you?” The billboard remained live for 24 hours before widespread condemnation—including from the Institute’s own supporters—forced its removal. The campaign planned to feature similar billboards with Fidel Castro, Osama bin Laden, and hostage-taker James J. Lee, claiming that those who accept climate science are “on the radical fringe” with the movement’s “most prominent advocates” being “murderers, tyrants, and madmen.”

Systematic Harassment of Climate Scientists

The Unabomber billboard represented the culmination of years of Heartland Institute harassment of climate scientists, particularly targeting Michael Mann and other prominent researchers. By comparing scientists to mass murderers, Heartland attempted to delegitimize climate research through character assassination rather than scientific debate. The billboard strategy revealed the bankruptcy of climate denial arguments—unable to refute the science, Heartland resorted to comparing scientists to terrorists. This pattern of harassment had real consequences, with climate scientists receiving death threats and facing orchestrated campaigns to damage their reputations and careers.

Corporate Sponsor Exodus and Funding Loss

The billboard campaign backfired spectacularly, with major corporate donors immediately withdrawing support. State Farm, Diageo, Verizon, and other companies announced they would no longer fund Heartland, with the Institute losing nearly half of its corporate funding (around $1.14 million) within weeks. Even climate skeptic Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) threatened to cancel his speech at Heartland’s conference over the billboard. Despite losing millions in corporate support, Heartland did not apologize, stating they would continue to “experiment with ways to communicate the ‘realist’ message on the climate.”

Koch and Fossil Fuel Funding Infrastructure

Prior to the billboard disaster, Heartland had received significant funding from Koch Industries and fossil fuel interests as part of the climate denial infrastructure. The billboard campaign revealed how extremist these well-funded denial organizations had become, willing to compare respected scientists to terrorists in their efforts to undermine climate action. The campaign demonstrated that even major corporate donors like State Farm had limits to what climate denial rhetoric they would fund publicly, though dark money networks continued supporting similar organizations through less transparent channels.

Significance

The Heartland Unabomber billboard represents the nadir of fossil fuel-funded climate denial—the moment a well-funded think tank openly compared climate scientists to mass murderers. The campaign revealed the true nature of climate denial as a character assassination campaign rather than scientific debate, with harassment and intimidation replacing engagement with research. While the corporate sponsor exodus suggested some accountability, the broader climate denial infrastructure continued operating through dark money networks. The billboard’s brief 24-hour lifespan paradoxically extended its impact through media coverage, spreading Heartland’s message that climate scientists were extremists. The incident emboldened harassment campaigns targeting individual scientists, contributing to a climate of intimidation that affected scientific research and public communication about climate change for years afterward.