Friends of Science; Friends of Tobacco [2]
It seems that the professional pasts of some members of Canadian climate change spin machine “Friends of Science [6]” go well beyond the oil and gas industry.
Dr. Fred Seitz [7], listed as a member of the Friends of Science at the inaugural oil industry funded [8] Ottawa kick-off [9], has admitted to helping tobacco giant RJ Reynolds [10] spread out million of dollars in health research grants [11] during the 1970’s and 80’s. Seitz’s role was to assist Big Tobacco in creating the illusion that there was still some debate over whether tobacco was a proven danger to health.
Which coincidentally is the same PR technique that Friends of Science is using to delay action on climate change; creating the public perception of a scientific debate in order to undermine support for the Kyoto accord or for any real public policy action.
Same techniques. Same experts And, we would argue, same degree of credibility.
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[5]
[4]
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