Australian Labour Party MP, Tony Burke, pens a great piece today in the  Daily Telegraph castigating "… a handful of sceptics willing to rail against the weight of scientfic opinion," on issues ranging from climate change to tobacco to asbestos.

As MP Burke rightly states: "We should remember, when those with something to lose ignored the information about the dangers of smoking and asbestos, some very real victims emerged."

Well said, and as regular DeSmog readers know full well, many of the same people who told us not to worry about tobacco smoke and asbestos are now telling us not to worry about climate change.

Here are a few examples:

Dr. S. Fred Singer
On Asbestos
"The US has spent billions of dollars removing asbestos from schools, and for no good health reason." (link)

On Climate Change
"So, the global climate doesn't seem to be warming, causing considerable embararassment to scientists." (link)

Bonner Cohen
On Second-hand Tobacco Smoke
"The Science [on tobacco smoke], of which the EPA avails itself, is that which happens to fit the political agenda of the moment… the one certainty following the EPA's report, is that the available science is inconclusive." (link)

On Climate Change
"Your granchildren would best be served, when considering climate change that we not allow ourselves to be driven by idle speculation." (link)

Steve Milloy
On Tobacco Smoke
"Some of the more famous unprovable cancer risks are dioxin, electromagnetis fields, hazardous waste sites, environmental tobacco smoke…" (link)

On climate change
"The notion that humans are contributing to a rise in global temperature lacks scientific credibility." (link)