For Immediate Release: October 15, 2012
CONTACT:  Stacy Malkan, 510-542-9224; stacy@carighttoknow.org

Oakland:  The Yes on 37 Campaign today called on opponents of the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act to clarify whether they share the extreme and dubious scientific views of Dr. Henry Miller, a researcher at the right-wing Hoover Institution, who is featured as a spokesperson in TV ads blanketing California for the No on 37 campaign.

Miller, who has appeared in TV ads arguing against Prop 37, is a founding member of a now defunct tobacco front group that tried to discredit the links between cigarettes and cancer, has repeatedly called for the reintroduction of DDT, fronted for an oil industry funded climate change denial group, and claimed that people exposed to radiation from the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster “may have benefitted from it.”

The Yes on 37 campaign today sent letters to No on 37 spokesperson Kathy Fairbanks and other public spokespeople of the No on 37 campaign, asking them to clarify if they stand behind Miller’s dubious scientific beliefs.

“Time and again, Henry Miller has been the mouthpiece of corporate elites trying to deceive the public about issues of health and science,” said Gary Ruskin, campaign manager of California Right to Know.  “If the No on 37 campaign shares his extreme views, it shows how far outside the mainstream their campaign really is.  If they don’t, they should explain why they want Californians to trust someone whom they don’t trust either.”

In the letter, Ruskin said that Miller has a “highly controversial record on issues of science and public policy.“

Read Ruskin’s Letter to Fairbanks Here: http://www.carighttoknow.org/fairbanks

As the Los Angeles Times reported, The No on 37 campaign’s latest ad featuring Miller was pulled last week for misrepresenting both his occupation and Stanford University.  This past weekend, the San Jose Mercury News analyzed a recut version of the ad, and still found it misleading.

The continuing Miller controversy has not been the $35 million No on 37 campaign’s only credibility problem.  The Sacramento Bee fact-checked its statewide radio ad and concluded it was misleading.  This week, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics sent out a press release stating that they were misrepresented by the No on 37 campaign in the official California Voter’s Guide that was sent to 11 million voters.

“We are concerned that California voters are being misled..." said Academy President Ethan Bergman. "Voters need accurate information in order to make an informed choice."

BACKGROUND:  The Dubious Credibility of No on 37 Science Spokesperson Henry Miller  

• Miller was a founding member of The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition, a Phillip Morris backed front group that tried to discredit the links between tobacco products, heart disease and cancer.  http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/The_Advancement_of_Sound_Science_Coalition
   
• In a 1994 PR memo recommending strategy to help Phillip Morris organize a worldwide effort to fight tobacco regulations, Henry Miller was referred to as “a key supporter.”  http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/pqa35e00/pdf 
   
• In 2012, Miller wrote, “nicotine … is not particularly bad for you in the amounts delivered by cigarettes or smokeless products.” http://www.hoover.org/publications/defining-ideas/article/111606
   
• Miller has repeatedly argued for the re-introduction of DDT, a toxic pesticide banned in the United States since 1972, which has been linked to pre-term birth and fertility impairment in women.   http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/re-booting-ddt, http://www.forbes.com/sites/henrymiller/2012/09/05/rachel-carsons-deadly-fantasies/2/
   
• In 2011, after the Japanese tsunami and radiation leaks at the Fukushima nuclear power plants, Miller argued that “those … who were exposed to low levels of radiation could have actually benefitted from it.” http://www.forbes.com/sites/henrymiller/2011/12/21/can-tiny-amounts-of-poison-actually-be-good-for-you/
   
• Miller sits on the “scientific advisory board” of the George C. Marshall Institute, which is famous for its oil and gas industry funded denials of climate change.
  http://cei.org/adjunct-scholar/henry-i-miller
  http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=36
  http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/01/al-gore-environment-climate-change-opinions-contributors-henry-i-miller.html
   
• Miller has argued that the FDA should outsource more of its functions to private industries, and has publicly attacked the FDA for its efforts to ensure proper vetting and testing of new drugs: 
  http://www.american.com/archive/2007/october-10-07/the-case-for-fda-outsourcing/; http://www.american.com/archive/2007/june-0607/drug-regulation-has-the-worst-become-the-norm

For more information see www.carighttoknow.org

Paid for by Yes on 37 For Your Right to Know if Your Food Has Been Genetically Engineered  Supported by Consumer Advocates Makers of Organic Products and California Farmers, Major funding by Mercola Health Resources LLC and Organic Consumers Fund. 5940 College Ave, Suite F , Oakland, CA 94618, United States