Links Between Big Tobacco and Climate Denial – “Rhymes with Smoky Joe”

Published on YouTube Nov 25, 2013: “Smokey Joe” Barton is […]

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Climate State

Date Posted:

November 26, 2013

Published on YouTube Nov 25, 2013: “Smokey Joe” Barton is known for apologizing to BP after the 2010 Oil spill, and harassing climate scientists.
Turns out he’s also been a key connection between the tobacco industry and the climate denial industry. Archival footage from ABC News on the tobacco wars of the 90s turns up sequences of Smoky Joe in action on behalf of Big Cancer. ClimateCrocks.com

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Climate State covers the broad spectrum of climate change, and the solutions, since around 2011 with the focus on the sciences. Views expressed on this site or on social media are not necessarily the views by Climate State – we endorse data, facts, empirical evidence.

52 Comments

  1. azmanabdula November 25, 2013 at 2:40 pm - Reply

    am i here alone?

  2. azmanabdula November 25, 2013 at 2:40 pm - Reply

    *puts flag here*

  3. mrx00666 November 25, 2013 at 2:50 pm - Reply

    5:11 I wanted to slap that bible right out of his disgustingly bought hands.

    The biases these bastards have disgust me.

    What is left? To wait for more horror storms one after another? Because of
    their greed and stupidity we must all suffer for it?

    Damn them…

  4. Randy Miller November 25, 2013 at 3:10 pm - Reply

    Amazing video; it sent shivers up my spine. I wish people would wake up and
    start putting their trust in scientists again.

  5. Talladega Tom November 25, 2013 at 3:13 pm - Reply

    GREAT video Greenman!

  6. Disthron November 25, 2013 at 3:21 pm - Reply

    Never trust anyone who would try to convince you by swearing on the bible.
    It means nothing.

  7. Disthron November 25, 2013 at 3:31 pm - Reply

    I thought this was a pretty cool video. It brings up parallels between the
    tobacco industry denying tobaccos addictive/cancer causing qualities and
    the oil industry denying the negative effects of large amounts of carbon in
    the air.

  8. Pulsar77 November 25, 2013 at 3:47 pm - Reply

    What the US is missing is people like Paxman. When he interviews someone
    who starts bullshitting, he interrupts them and tells them to answer the
    question. It sends a strong signal to the audience: “this guy is avoiding
    the issue, don’t trust him”. You can see that Ebell is taken aback by this,
    as he isn’t used to getting interviewed like this.

  9. daddyleon November 25, 2013 at 3:48 pm - Reply

    Good video, great even!
    It nearly broke my recent cynicism to optimism.

  10. daddyleon November 25, 2013 at 3:53 pm - Reply

    lol 7:03 “Please answer the question Mr. Evil!”

    Okay… not quite, it was Ebell… but still :P

  11. Stephen Nielsen November 25, 2013 at 4:09 pm - Reply

    Katrina, Sandy, Haiyan, snowmageddon, unprecedented heat waves in Siberia,
    unprecedented forest fires in subarctic forests, extreme species migration,
    multiplying invasive species plagues

    How much more will it take before the left side of the bell curve is
    convinced?

  12. superduperjew November 25, 2013 at 4:12 pm - Reply

    Excellence.

  13. Deep Ashtray November 25, 2013 at 4:22 pm - Reply

    Revenues are $1.5 trillion a year just for the top 5 oil companies in the
    U.S…. it’s still an uphill battle.

  14. sheri226 November 25, 2013 at 6:05 pm - Reply

    Thank you SO MUCH for this. Will share on facebook asap!

  15. z4k November 25, 2013 at 8:25 pm - Reply

    Former deniers (paid by the tobacco industry) of the connection between
    smoking and lung cancer now (paid by the oil industry) deny man-made
    climate change. Does anyone *really* take him seriously?

    #climatechangedenial #smokeyjoe #uspolitics

  16. Eclipto14 November 25, 2013 at 9:14 pm - Reply

    We need more videos from you Greenman. Can you recommend any websites or
    blogs that are similar to your work?

  17. kyebean November 25, 2013 at 10:32 pm - Reply

    The problem with comparing anti-tobacco and climate change movements is
    that climate change lacks the human element. This shouldn’t matter, but the
    general population is startlingly irrational. People can see unlimited
    examples of themselves, friends and family personally feeling the full
    effects of tobacco right now. No one is personally affected by climate
    change until it’s too late. The problem requires a certain level of
    foresight, planning, rationality and interest in future generations that is
    in short supply.

  18. MrWagman11 November 25, 2013 at 11:30 pm - Reply

    It must be easy going through life not possessing a conscience.

  19. FlyingFree333 November 25, 2013 at 11:43 pm - Reply

    Nicotine isn’t addictive, as all the studies on nicotine replacement
    therapies clearly show, the RITUAL of smoking is PSYCHOLOGICALLY addictive,
    the nicotine has nothing to do with it, studies done with electronic
    cigarettes show the same results whether or not nicotine is present.
    Nicotine is also not a carcinogen, though there are over 3000 identified
    harmful substances in tobacco, nicotine isn’t one of them. Nicotine’s
    effects on the body are similar to those of caffeine (though nicotine
    doesn’t make people jumpy like caffeine does), nicotine is only dangerous
    in the case of overdose or in people with severe heart conditions (as, like
    caffeine, it’s a stimulant).

  20. Jago Tremain November 26, 2013 at 10:31 am - Reply

    There’s always more money to be made for taking the side of those with lots
    of it. If there were a single genuine climate scientist anywhere who could
    find genuine evidence that climate change wasn’t happening, then the oil
    companies would quite certainly have paid him to find it.

  21. PigFartFace November 28, 2013 at 3:54 am - Reply

    dude! A vid from the greenman himself. Nice to see you back. I link to
    your videos more than anyone I’ve ever seen on youtube.

  22. Edward K. Ream December 1, 2013 at 5:07 pm - Reply

    Great punch line, Peter. The denialists are losing control of the debate,
    and when they do, they will be seen for what you have shown them to be.

  23. Aaron Michaux December 1, 2013 at 6:02 pm - Reply

    Great video, thanks greenman3610!

  24. philfromearth December 5, 2013 at 2:38 am - Reply

    Money can make some people say anything in public, even if it’s absurd or a
    down right lie .

  25. James Yoho December 5, 2013 at 3:35 pm - Reply

    Here’s a good video drawing excellent parallels (even showing patterns for
    ‘experts against all the evidence’ and politicians fighting science
    (sometimes the same politicians, eh?)) between the tobacco industry
    claiming that nicotine is not addictive and oil companies denying global
    warming.

  26. Chuck-U Farly December 5, 2013 at 3:52 pm - Reply

    There is always a CON in CONservative.

  27. etramway December 5, 2013 at 5:13 pm - Reply

    Joe Barton is a perfect representative for conservatives.

  28. mutopis December 5, 2013 at 5:26 pm - Reply

    GOP believes in one value: $$$

  29. maha77 December 5, 2013 at 5:53 pm - Reply

    the only GOD conservatives WORSHIP is $MONEY$

    they would throw their own mother in a flaming pit of acid for a dollar

  30. Bill Carroll December 5, 2013 at 6:56 pm - Reply

    A lot of people in the comments are blaming the Republicans, but Democrats
    are equally guilty of taking funds from industries like Big Tobacco and Big
    Oil. Super- PAC’s need to stop. Campaign finance reform needs to happen.
    But God knows how it’s going to happen when both sides are so entrenched.

  31. Chuck-U Farly December 5, 2013 at 8:01 pm - Reply

    Joe Barton has been on the wrong side of every issue. He will say anything
    for $money$ Not surprising he is a CONservatvie.

  32. Libertarian Eric December 5, 2013 at 8:24 pm - Reply

    I can make the same kind of video showing democrats doing the same thing.
    Nice spin video though. It’s not ONLY conservatives, the whole 2 party
    system is the problem.

  33. andrew547 December 5, 2013 at 8:27 pm - Reply

    Lots of sociopaths in business, and government.

  34. djarm67 December 5, 2013 at 10:07 pm - Reply

    Familiar?

  35. Royaleah December 6, 2013 at 1:35 am - Reply

    I am no body language expert but the little head nod at 5:55 seems to be
    saying ‘Yes, it does’.

  36. Mike Lazarus December 6, 2013 at 2:07 am - Reply

    Wow … a MUST watch
    To quote Split Enz:
    History never repeats
    I tell myself before I go to sleep
    Don’t say the words you might regret
    I’ve lost before you know I can’t forget

  37. FreedomFan December 15, 2013 at 9:26 am - Reply

    Democrat “science”:

    A whiff of second-hand smoke outdoors will kill you, but smoke all the pot
    you want.

    Sure there has been no actual temperature increase since the IPCC was
    founded in 1998, but the planet is melting and we will all die unless we
    give up all our money and freedom to a massive central government.

  38. Steven Campbell December 26, 2013 at 6:54 pm - Reply

    Big Evil are still running your democratic processes for…well not you.

  39. EDS6548 December 26, 2013 at 7:49 pm - Reply

    SMH

  40. Shawn Smith December 28, 2013 at 3:29 am - Reply

    Ironically, those guys saying nicotine is not addictive are mostly correct.
    What’s VERY addictive about cigarettes is the combination of nicotine and
    an MAOI found in tobacco. That’s also why smoking goes with almost
    anything. It makes coffee better, alcohol better, cocaine better. MAOI ftw!

  41. Abhaya Thiele January 2, 2014 at 2:19 am - Reply

    I would edit the film to end it at 8:15 or even 8:14. The last statement
    is a very important message and it should be where the video ends. I wish
    that the last image which says “Climate Denial Crock of the Week” were not
    included. It detracts from the important message which is that public
    opinion can indeed turn around quickly, as in the case with tobacco, and
    public opinion can similarly shift in favor of taking significant action on
    climate change.

  42. Dt0x75 January 6, 2014 at 7:15 pm - Reply

    Hey Gman… Fox was at it again the other day, trying to disprove climate
    change by using the “polar vortex” bringing subzero temps to the US. As you
    can imagine, nowhere in the article did it explain what Scientists believe
    is the cause.

  43. maxx1000 January 9, 2014 at 7:43 am - Reply

    When will Joe take the “necessity of Life” test on Co2…
    … Place a plastic bag over his head and tie it off and report back in 24
    hours on how his Co2 necessitated his life?

    Big man should pony up and walk his walk, no?

  44. John Cocktoasten January 10, 2014 at 3:06 pm - Reply

    We now know that Temperature and Co2 do not correlate. Sea levels have not
    risen and there have been just as many record low temps as high temps in
    the las few years. So where is the global Warming hypothesis now?

  45. Monty Burns January 11, 2014 at 3:21 pm - Reply

    this is all bullshit… green taxes go to the un not to saving the planet
    and warming temps would be a better thing for all mankind … less
    starvation and such .,,.,, global warming enthusiasts are a bunch of modern
    day eugenicists and world govt pumpers …. you know who else was eugencist
    and pro world govt? the nazi party in germany … go watch and study a
    hitler speech about a “new world order” blah blah … the guy that runs
    this site is prolly paid by globalist groups

  46. quinndiesel1977 January 17, 2014 at 4:49 pm - Reply

    It’s been a while since one of these came out. Excellent video. I look
    forward to more from you.

  47. mitch0310 January 19, 2014 at 7:43 am - Reply

    Correlation is not causation

  48. Uncle Duke January 20, 2014 at 5:05 pm - Reply

    Take pleasure in the thought that Smokey Joe’s Texas Congressional District
    is blowing away and burning away due to climate change.

  49. uwe hansen January 23, 2014 at 11:46 am - Reply

    we only get the kind of politics that we deserve.

  50. mailtemp1234 January 25, 2014 at 5:00 am - Reply

    Good video
    Well Done ..

  51. Stephanie Gilley March 9, 2014 at 12:53 am - Reply

    Smoking ~ Climate Change

  52. apeek7 June 5, 2014 at 11:48 pm - Reply

    Your comparison of the techniques of Big Tobacco to Big Oil is correct.
    The difference is that tobacco use effects a single user at a time. Also,
    if everyone quit using tobacco, all effects of the drug would be gone from
    humanity in 100 years.

    Climate change effects everyone on the planet whether a polluter or not.
    Also, the effects of climate change may be more severe to humanity at large
    than a subset of smokers puffing away AND those effects may persist for
    thousands of years into the future…

    The techniques used by big oil are similar to the ones used by the big
    tobacco but the consequences of waiting around for the public to finally
    “get it” may be devastating and irreversible to civilization. There is a
    reason people don’t live in the middle of the Sahara or at the South Pole –
    CLIMATE…

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