A Climate Deniers take on Tobacco Smoke

picture-8-1346574554.jpg
on

Itโ€™s no secret that many of the people and organizations funded by cigarette companies to defend โ€œsmokerโ€™s rightsโ€ and downplay the harmful effect of tobacco smoke have been involved in the energy industry-funded campaign to downplay the serious effects of climateย change.

No group typifies this more than the Heartland Institute, a Chicago-based โ€œthinkโ€ tank that simultaneously operates the โ€œsmokerโ€™s loungeโ€ and โ€œglobal warming factsโ€ sections on their website. The former arguing for โ€œsmokerโ€™s rightsโ€ and railing on about the need for โ€œsound scienceโ€ on tobacco issues and the latter arguing that โ€œglobal warming is not aย crisis.โ€

Itโ€™s no coincidence that the Heartland Institute has also received funding over the years from companies that stand to benefit from delaying government regulation in the areas of tobacco and greenhouse gasย emissions.

According to publicly available documents the Heartland Institute has received $676,000 from oil giant ExxonMobil. The oil money stopped flowing in 2006 from Exxon, but Dan Miller, executive vice president of the Heartland Institute, called its funding from ExxonMobil โ€œpocket change.โ€ โ€œWe can live without Exxonโ€™s contribution just fine,โ€ Miller said. Yaย right.

Other reported funders over the years have been Philip Morris Management Corp., Chevron USA, the National Coal Association, the Brown & Williamson Tobacco corporation, Ford Motors, and Generalย Motors.

In his self-published book on tobacco smoke oddly titled Please Donโ€™t Poop in My Salad, Heartlandโ€™s President, Joseph Bast argues that a moderate amount of tobacco smoke is a mereย annoyance:

โ€œSo this year, I will pledge to reduce, but not quit, smoking. If you are an anti-smoker, I ask you to consider making a New Yearโ€™s pledge too. Admit you may be over-estimating the health effects of smoking in moderation and underestimating the pleasure tobacco brings to the smokerโ€™s life. Pledge to be more tolerant of the smokers in your midst. We, in turn, will do our best not to let our habit annoy you.โ€

On global warming, Bast argues on Heartlandโ€™s websiteย that:

โ€œExcept for radical environmentalistsโ€“who always have been a small minority of the general public and even a minority within the environmental movementโ€“most people donโ€™t โ€œ believeโ€ in global warming. They believeโ€“and rightly soโ€“that the science is still undecided and government action is unnecessary.โ€

Downplay the effects, downplay the need to do anything – same strategy, different piles of money. I guess everyone has to make a buckย somehow.


This month weโ€™re giving away FREE copies Nobel Laureate Dr. Andrew Weaverโ€™s new book Keeping Our Cool: Canada in a Warmingย World.

Go here to find out more details about DeSmogBlogโ€™s monthly bookย give-away.

picture-8-1346574554.jpg
Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmog. He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a โ€œGreen Heroโ€ by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the โ€œTop 50 Tweetersโ€ on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning. Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevinโ€™s research into the โ€œclimate denial industryโ€ and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Kochโ€™s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea partyย networks. Kevin is the first person to be designated a โ€œCertified Expertโ€ on theย political and community organizing platformย NationBuilder. Prior to DeSmog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health. In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the worldโ€™s best e-Content and innovative ICTย applications. Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.

Related Posts

on

Tech firms like Amazon and Google โ€˜have enormous responsibilityโ€™ for driving fossil fuel expansions, climate expert argues.

Tech firms like Amazon and Google โ€˜have enormous responsibilityโ€™ for driving fossil fuel expansions, climate expert argues.
on

The Tory candidate is running her campaign from the home of a prominent anti-green activist.

The Tory candidate is running her campaign from the home of a prominent anti-green activist.
on

Peter Thiel, JD Vanceโ€™s former boss, also expresses confusion on climate, supporting expanded fossil fuel use while appearing unclear on the consequences.

Peter Thiel, JD Vanceโ€™s former boss, also expresses confusion on climate, supporting expanded fossil fuel use while appearing unclear on the consequences.
on

An emergency preparedness conference in Ottawa hosted two days of panels with only limited discussion of climate changeโ€™s root causes.

An emergency preparedness conference in Ottawa hosted two days of panels with only limited discussion of climate changeโ€™s root causes.