Cartoon courtesy of Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.
You knew this well-targeted attack was going to be launched by someone. Kudos to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids for pointing out the absurdity of some group of CEOs giving an award to the US Chamber of Commerce for supposedly being useful in reducing lung cancer. The award by the CEOs reflects an obvious failure of the awarding group to understand that the US Chamber of Commerce is a global lobbying arm for big tobacco, as detailed in a string of articles by the New York Times and others. Thus, the campaign explained, in pertinent part:
“It is incomprehensible that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been recognized by the CEO Roundtable on Cancer for its efforts against cancer when the Chamber has helped the tobacco industry fight life-saving and cancer-preventing tobacco control policies around the world, as recently revealed by a multi-part investigation by The New York Times. Far from helping to reduce cancer, the Chamber’s pro-tobacco activities are undermining global efforts to fight cancer.
Because of its pro-tobacco activities, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is undeserving of the “CEO Cancer Gold Standard” it was recently awarded by the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, a nonprofit organization of CEOs. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids calls on the CEO Roundtable on Cancer to rescind this recognition until the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ceases all activities on behalf of the tobacco industry and against tobacco control policies. We urge the CEO Roundtable on Cancer to realize that there is a fundamental conflict between its worthy mission of combatting cancer and the Chamber’s activities on behalf of the tobacco industry.”