Sound familiar?
From Ukraine to Uruguay, Moldova to the Philippines, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its foreign affiliates have become the hammer for the tobacco industry, engaging in a worldwide effort to fight antismoking laws of all kinds, according to interviews with government ministers, lobbyists, lawmakers and public health groups in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the United States.
The U.S. Chamber’s work in support of the tobacco industry in recent years has emerged as a priority at the same time the industry has faced one of the most serious threats in its history. A global treaty, negotiated through the World Health Organization, mandates anti-smoking measures and also seeks to curb the influence of the tobacco industry in policy making. The treaty, which took effect in 2005, has been ratified by 179 countries; holdouts include Cuba, Haiti and the United States.
Facing a wave of new legislation around the world, the tobacco lobby has turned for help to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with the weight of American business behind it. While the chamber’s global tobacco lobbying has been largely hidden from public view, its influence has been widely felt.
Letters, emails and other documents from foreign governments, the chamber’s affiliates and antismoking groups, which were reviewed by The New York Times, show how the chamber has embraced the challenge, undertaking a three-pronged strategy in its global campaign to advance the interests of the tobacco industry.
In the capitals of far-flung nations, the chamber lobbies alongside its foreign affiliates to beat back antismoking laws.
The chamber, by far the largest lobbying force on Capitol Hill — having spent more than $65 million in 2009 — is actively campaigning against meaningful climate change legislation. It is also taking a lead role in challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) attempts to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. More fundamentally, it continues to cast doubt on climate change science and sow fears through exaggerated claims about the economic consequences of greenhouse gas regulation.
Merchants of Doubt Movie will be released on July 7, 2015. Pre-order are now at iTunes ($13, $14 in HD) and Amazon (Blue-ray $27).
It will be available on Netflix on July 7 also.
Add it to the queue.
Surprised? Who is surprised by the Chamber’s resurgent tobacco denial efforts? Or their climate denial efforts? The Merchants Of Doubt book laid it all out beautifully (in spite of what Russell Cook found on page 269)—-I’m looking forward to getting the DVD from Netflix in a week or so.
And do we not see the word COMMERCE in their title? They are just one of the conservative “stink” tanks like Cato, Heritage, and the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise that value free enterprise and profit above all else.
Time for countries sued by PMI to pass legislation holding them accountable for selling a product known to be dangerous, or just invoking existing laws. They wouldn’t have any problems with an electrical manufacturer who made a dodgy heater. Demand a global recall too.
I’d suggest pushing through plain packaging worldwide. They’re fighting it tooth and nail because they understand what losing will cost them. These creeps understand money and power– let’s take both away from them.