Update May 7: Rep. Sensenbrenner says he will speak at Denial-a-Palooza after all because Heartland pulled its billboard, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Although not likely to be the last, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) became the first speaker to distance himself from Heartland Institute’s outrageous billboard stunt today, telling the Washington Post that he will no longer attend Heartland’s forthcoming denier conference in Chicago, a.k.a. Denial-a-Palooza.

Washington Post’s Greg Sargent reports in his The Plum Line blog: 

GOP Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, a leading climate “skeptic,” will be pulling out of an upcoming conference sponsored by the group where he was supposed to speak.

Rep. Sensenbrenner’s spokesman did leave the door open for him to attend if Heartland pulls the campaign (it has), but it would be difficult for any politician – even the leading sponsor of the Patriot Act – to continue associating with Heartland’s extremist behavior.
 
Stay tuned for other defections as the insanity of Heartland’s stunt – and its failure to apologize even though it decided to discontinue the billboards after only 24 hours – reverberates around the world.

More important than seeing the invited speakers bail on Heartland, expect to see some more of the corporations, including the 19 public companies, who have recently funded this denial shop jump off its sinking ship in the coming days.