Environmental Groups Blast Rockwell Ads

PITTSBURGH — Rockwell International Corp. has raised the ire of environmentalists by using Ansel Adams’ photographs to compare defense systems to national resources in three advertisements.

In one ad, the caption to a photograph of a waterfall and mountains reads: “Like Yosemite National Park, Tactical Weapons Systems are a national resource.”

Another ad by the Pittsburgh-based company, one of the nation’s leading defense contractors, shows a winter sunrise in the mountains of California with the caption: “Like the Sierra Nevada, the U.S. Air Force B-1B Long-Range Combat Aircraft is a National Resource.”

Mother Jones magazine editorialized that the ads make Adams, who died in 1984 at age 82, seem like an “arms peddler.”

“Adams is such a distinguished character when it comes to the environment,” said Tom Cosgrove, northeast regional representative for the Sierra Club. “You think such warm, positive thoughts about him. To have his work associated with a defense contractor is sort of surprising. It’s affronting to me.”

Paid Substantial Fee

Rockwell said it paid a substantial fee to use the photographs in ads running in four defense and aerospace publications and in National Journal, a weekly focusing on politics and government.

“We made our best judgment about whether Ansel would have sanctioned the ads or not and we felt he would have,” said David Vena, Adams’ former personal secretary and one of three trustees who authorized the ads.

Known for his extremely sharp images of beautiful and often stark settings, Adams favored nuclear power plants, arguing that coal and oil excessively polluted the air. He also supported the space shuttle, another Rockwell contract.

Brian Daly, a Rockwell spokesman, said the company has received no complaints about the ads.

“Rockwell thinks these are outstanding ads which relate vitally important national defense efforts with America’s national natural resources,” Daly said.

Vena said the ads were approved to run for 18 months to two years in the five publications.