In December 1992, the US Environmental Protection Agency published a 500-page report called Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking. Within two months Ellen Merlo, Philip Morris's senior vice-president of corporate affairs, sent a letter to William I Campbell, Philip Morris's chief executive officer and president, explaining her intentions: "Our overriding objective is to discredit the EPA report ... Concurrently, it is our objective to prevent states and cities, as well as businesses, from passive-smoking bans."1 She had hired a public relations company called APCO. The following is a description of what is in that letter:
| Philip Morris, APCO said, needed to create the impression of a "grassroots" movement - one that had been formed spontaneously by concerned citizens to fight "overregulation". It should portray the danger of tobacco smoke as just one "unfounded fear" among others, such as concerns about pesticides.... |
| source: Guardian Unlimited: The denial industry |
The idea was to discredit the EPA, the scientists in the "Ivory Tower", and to create think tanks that protect a wide range of industries from environmental and public health regulations and even lawsuites. Attacking science on a wide range of fronts would help them gain support from other pollution-prone businesseses while hiding their primary motivation which was to protect the big-tobacco companies. Shortly afterward, the Advancement of Sound Science Coalition was founded. Which in turn funds Steven Milloys's JunkScience.com This act of creating "independent" think tanks has often been called a multi-million dollar ventriloquist act.
| The Denial Industry |
More Info:
Guardian Unlimited: The denial industry
Thinkprogress: VIDEO: BBC Reveals ‘Direct Link’ Between Tobacco Companies And Global Warming Deniers
Smokefree: "Doubt is our product" (B&W, 1969)
TobaccoDocuments.org: Smoking and Health Proposal
WeatherUnderground: Tobacco Documents & Lindzen
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