Alan W. Katzenstein

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This article is part of the Tobacco portal on Sourcewatch funded from 2006 - 2009 by the American Legacy Foundation.

Alan W. Katzenstein was a biostatistican who worked mainly as a science writer. He ran a one-man science-lobby business he called Katzenstein Associates. In fact he was a general lobbying consultant available to any corporation or trade association willing to pay. He worked on contract both for the Tobacco Institute and Philip Morris, and also worked for the coal-energy lobby organisation known as the Edison Electric Institute (from the early 1980s ... on and off apparently ... until after 2000).

For many years he was simultaneously a consultant to the coal-energy industry on smoke pollution, and a lobbyist-writer for the tobacco industry in the area of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). He was effective enough to become part of their witness team. The Tobacco Institute used him mainly as a general science-writer and for media junkets because he seems to be able to translate complex scientific material into lay terms for other journalists.

In a biography he circulated to promote his services, Katzenstein claims a background in chemical and biological sciences. But his only graduate degree was an MBA from New York University. His résume says he worked on product development, quality control and Navy and Air Force organizations for a decade, and then spent 15 years working at advertising firms in New York before starting his own company, Katzenstein Associates in 1973.

By 1987 Katzenstein was consulting to the Tobacco Institute regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's secondhand smoke risk assessment. This doesn't mean he was actually consulting in the terms of giving the industry advice: he was employed on contract to confuse the issues, fool the media, legislators, and the public about environmental tobacco smoke problems in general. By 1988 he was being sent on media tours for the Tobacco Institute to help block legislations and ordinances against smoking in the workplace: he often spoke on radio and gave 'expert witness statements' at various hearings and inquiries denying that passive smoke was a problem.

In the new millenium he was still in the business, but now he was denying climate change.Media Matters

Documents and Timelines

1982 Katzenstein was a consultant to the Edison Electric Institute, and the author of a booklet which denied evidence of acid rain which was then being sourced to coal-fired power stations which burned low-grade coal (containing sulphur). They were fighting the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The Wall Street Journal was obviously taken in, since it recommended

that the EPA weigh every word on that five-foot shelf [of public comments] carefully, over, say, the next 20 to 200 years. For the preliminary finding it might try a 49-page booklet, "Understanding Acid Rain," by Alan W. Katzenstein, a technical consultant to the Edison Electric Institute. The EEI is, of course, a very interested party, but that doesn't make Mr. Katzenstein's four-year analysis of scientific and pseudo-scientific work any less interesting. Media Matters

[The WSJ assumed the pseudo-scientific statement referred to the climate change activist. It should have referred to the paid mercenaries of the Edison Electric institute.]

1985 Aug (Handnote by Brown & Williamson (BATUS)) Notes from a Council for Tobacco Research (CTR) executive meeting.

Revised Proposals
  3. Katzenstein - A technical writer suggested by Spears. TI will follow up.

The CTR was a research-funding organisation that was used to channel tobacco industry funds to friendly scientific lobbyists -- often through secret payments called "Special Project #4". [1]

1986 May (Scott) Stapf (Assistant to the president of the Tobacco Institute) says Katzenstein should not be used just for Letters to the Editor. Use him in front of the media. [2]

1986 Jun 9 Interoffice memo at British-American Tobacco (BAT) re the Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Advisory Group meeting. (ETS-AG). This is an inter-company executive group of top internal lobbyists in the industry who planned the industry's defensive strategies. Obviously he is already employed on some long-term project by the Tobacco Institute;

Katzenstein - (Kloepfer) [Public Relations project]

Mr.(William) Kloepfer had nothing to report. RJ R(eynolds) ETS staff has provided Mr Katzenstein with information on ETS odor and irritation. He is trying to develop an article that considers the differences in levels at which ETS can be perceived organoleptically versus those that exceed some estimated risk level such as TLV.

Hopefully, a draft of Katzenstein's article will be available in the near future.

William Kloepfer was the TI's public relations head who would have been in charge of this project. [3]

1986 Jun 23 [Date wrong in document] Tobacco Institute Report (by William Kloepfer). The Tobacco Institute has contracted Dr Alan Katzenstein to do a media presentation in Portland, Maine, June 25-27 on the ETS issue. He will be accompanied by a TI representative ...

... and will be presented as an independent student of the ETS issue with background and experience in air pollution.
 Alex Spears (Vice President of Lorillard) wondered if it should be pointed out that Katzenstein is a paid consultant to the Tobacco Institute.

For this task, Katzenstein has been asked to prepare a reply to a recent article in the Washington Post (written) by Golden, a GSA administrator, on the regulation of smoking in government buildings. Katzenstein is also preparing a summary paper of the IAPAG presentations to the NAS Passive Smoking Hearing in January.

Katzenstein has also contacted the editor of Building Economics after it published a recent article on "Clearing the Air by Banning Smoking." The editor seemed receptive to Katzenstein's proposal to submit an article presenting a different viewpoint. A number of other magazines contacted by Katzenstein have expressed an interest in publishing articles he might prepare on ETS.

[GSA = Govt.Service Agency; NAS=National Airspace System (FAA) or National Academy of Science]
[IAPAG = Indoor Air Pollution Advisory Group -- a tobacco front-group based at Georgetown University;] [4]

1986 Oct 9 A Tobacco Institute draft for William Kloepfer's speech/statements (He is head of the TI's Media/PR section). This is a long document covering many different subjects including:

  • Defensive tactics used against anti-smoking organisations. Kloepfer's group were:
  • planning to attack Surgeon General (SG) Koop's report.
  • planning to use members of the IAQ Advisory Group (IAPAG) to perform briefings on behalf of the industry, but the academics are worried about the possible hostile reaction to their open involvement: they had been recently attacked publicly by the Lung Association.
  • planning to attack the Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute's anti-smoking programs
  • targeting the anti-smoking ASH organisation.
  • Kloepfer also comments on the industry's erratic reactions to problems:

[W]e've bumped our exposure of independent expert consultants to the media from 30 in the first quarter, to 88 in the second.

People like Gray Robertson demonstrating real indoor air problems, or Alan Katzenstein explaining what's really in and not in the literature on environmental tobacco smoke. Again, each speaker has a quota assignment (a TI staffer) to accompany such people.

  • The Kansas City Star gave Katzenstein a good writeup.
  • The AP in Colorado did a long story on Robertson's "sick building" lessons. He was on a phone-in show in Denver for a full hour.
  • [Heading] 'Media successes in recent times.

He lists three previous activities, then shows slides of recent achievements:

Fourth, targeted releases, out to the hinterlands.

  • One new vehicle is Tobacco Update, used for the first time this summer to notify some staff people at every newspaper with a ten-thousand-plus circulation of our summary views on the NAB aircraft cabin report.
  • Another vehicle is FYI, a good-looking article reprint format, which to date we've used to copy a couple of very good editorials on the ad-ban issue to some 1100 op-ed page managers and columnists. (Note: They were providing op-ed articles to magazines and newspapers in a high-gloss printer-proof format, so the article didn't need to be rekeyed or reset in type)
  • Here is Burt Neuborne's piece from the Washington Post;
  • this is Barry Lynn's article from the ACLU as it appeared in the LA Times.
    • A third vehicle is a straight news release. For example, a tailor-made statements (given to the media) in every State with a Ways and Means or Finance Committee member during the last days of debate on tax reform. (It was tailor-made for each state by:) estimating the statewide, regressive impact of any cigarette excise increase that might have remained in that legislation.

(The) Pickup was fine. UPI told New Yorkers (that) an eight-cent increase would cost them $141 million (in extra cigarette taxes). AP notified the people of Colorado they would be in for another $25 million. The story said minorities and the poor would be the biggest targets.

Burton Neuborne, was a former legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, who now ran the tobacco industry's Freedom to Advertise Coalition His associate (also from the ACLU) Barry W Lynn had joined him as a tobacco lobbyist. [5]

1986 Oct 10 Walter Woodson at the Tobacco Institute is writing to his regional directors.

As you know, our Public Affairs division works with several experts on the general theme of smoking restrictions. Alan Katzenstein: Alan works with (TI Issues Manager) Jeff Ross and travels with TI spokespersons to various cities to explain the current state of ETS science. Alan is adept at punching holes in faulty ETS studies. [6]

1987 Jan 11 Susan Stuntz (head of the Issues Department of TI) outlines the Tobacco Institute's People, Organizations and Materials. She also list the outside consultants that the Tobacco Institute has available to fight the ETS battle.

[[William Weis had published a study which showed that smokers had more absentee sick-leave days than nonsmokers.]

1987 Feb 3 Sam Chilcote, the President of TI reports to his Executive Committee. He is providing 29 pages of revealing outlines of their activities, consultants, etc.

Resources:
'Alan Katzenstein, a science writer, who can take the ETS science arguments and translate them into language for the lay person. Katzenstein has filled the gap created by scientific consultants' reluctance to participate in media briefings. [8]

[Some members of the IAPAG group had refused to be exposed to on-camera/microphone interviews when dealing with journalists.]

1987 Apr 1987 [Global Tobacco] Industry In Action Report.

  • Alan W. Katzenstein, a consultant in technical analysis and communication, wrote Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) and Risk of Lung Cancer - How Convincing is the Evidence? on behalf of the industry association. The booklet counters the claim that ETS increases non-smokers' risk of developing lung cancer by showing that the scientific evidence does not support such a claim.
  • Katzenstein distributed the booklet during media tours. p21 [9]

    • 1988 Jeff Furr, a lawyer lobbyist for RJ Reynolds from the law-firm Womble Carlyle is contracting (misspelled) Allen W Katzenstein to attack a Judson Wells article. [10]

    1988 Jan 22 Brennan Dawson Moran at the Tobacco Institute has sent Randy Thompson Public Issues Manager at RJ Reynolds a list of "the potential players and messages for ETS/IAQ and smoking restrictions." He wants some speakers for a conference/symposium.

    • GRAY ROBERTSON Standard presentation on indoor air quality runs about 30 minutes, including his slide show. A video of this familiar message is included. As I mentioned, two of Mr. Robertson's colleagues have also given this presentation in many different forums and are excellent.
    Availability: As you know, ACVA is in heavy demand for legislative appearances, and Robertson is scheduled for one media tour per month in 1988. Again though, with some notice we can redirect time to accommodate. (Note: ACVA was later known as HBI)
    • DR DAVID WEEKS is a practicing physician from Boise, Idaho who travels on media tours for TI as well as other consulting work. Dr. Weeks is a strong speaker, well versed in the specifics of ETS science and indoor air quality. A credible and articulate presentation given in layman's terms.
    Availability: Weeks is scheduled for a media tour each month and does some legislative work, but availability should not be a problem.
    • DR. JACK PETERSON, an industrial hygienist from Milwaukee, who conducts media tours for us as well as labor oriented briefings on ETS and indoor air quality. Peterson's forte is really smaller groups — but he would be a strong advocate in larger forums as well.
    Availability: Should not be a problem. Peterson is also scheduled on one media tour per month.
    • JOHN FOX, ESQ. is a San Francisco-based management labor lawyer well versed in the case law and practical aspects of smoking in the workplace. Fox is a strong speaker and advocate before audiences of any size, as well as with the media.
    Availability:' Fox travels monthly with a TI speaker on media tours. He is most flexible in scheduling.
    • ALAN KATZENSTEIN conducts media tours with a TI speaker regularly. Katzenstein is best with small groups during informal discussions, but could probably be redirected to larger audiences.
    Availability: Katzenstein is readily available.
    • DR. LARRY HOLCOMB testifies on the ETS science on behalf of TI regularly. He also addressed the group in Palm Springs last week. Larry is articulate at presenting scientific and technical information in an easy and persuasive way. He's good for all size groups.
    Availability: Holcomb is our primary legislative witness, where our field staff relies heavily on his abilities. Thus, he may be busy, but is still a real possibility.
      • VIDEO TAPES: I have enclosed several video tapes which look at the main topics of interest. These are proven, successes with groups of all sizes.
              Also enclosed a tape labeled "Winter Meeting" which provides a look at some media clips of each of the consultants mentioned above, with the exception of Holcomb (he's simply never done any media or video-taped work.)
      [11]

    1988 Sep 8 Kay Thomas (aka Kay Thomas Packett) at the Tobacco Institute is dealing with Karil L Kochenderfer of Fleishman Hillard Inc. They have identified a list of 'state policy-makers' who have been targeted to receive a copy of a Katzenstein article . They are all officials dealing with air-quality and health issues.
    This list can also be used for distribution of the Kennan research findings ... [12]

    1988 Nov 7This is an Annual Report from Susan Stuntz and the Issues Management team at the Tobacco Institute to her boss Peter Sparber. It includes an outline of numerous activities and achievements over the year, together with some more general comments, including:

    Tactic: Continue to oppose unnecessary legislation
    Scientific Witness Testimony
    • [Salvatore] DiNardi is preparing comments on ASHRAE 62-1981R
    (ASHRAE is the American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers which sets the national standards for indoor air quality (IAQ))
    • DiNardi is in line to be named to a vacancy on EPA's Science Advisory Board on indoor air quality

    Also there are some specific comments about members of the Georgetown University's IAPAG group:
    Strategy I

    • [Alan] Katzenstein paper has been cleared, but is still undergoing review and comment at IAPAG
      (Many other references to Katzenstein and IAPAG)
    • All papers submitted to the 1/29 NAS hearing have been submitted for publication. Awaiting word from IAPAG as to where the articles have been submitted.
    (Note that the IAPAG group has submitted the Tobacco Institute's defensive papers for publication in an unspecified scientific journal)
    'Brief labor and industry personnel on the issues.
    • [Sorell] Schwartz has submitted to [John] Rupp a proposal for a reconstituted ETS seminar (Mar-Apr 1987)
    Organize teams of experts to conduct briefings.
    • Technical air quality briefing paper [to be prepared] by IAPAG group
    Scheur/Ritter legislation
    • Draft and/or review testimony for IAPAG, [Gray] Robertson, [Robert] Tollison,[Philip] Burch, [Lew] Solmon, [C] Lewis, PED [Public Employees Dept of AFL-CIO], AFGE [Am. Fed of Govt. Employees]. (Note: he was also dean of the UCLA Graduated School of Education
    • Meeting with D Mudarri (of the EPA which) [Gray] Robertson and [Nancy] Balter attended.
    (See also other material on Gray Robertson and his company HBI-ACVA) [13]

    1989 Aug 11 Larry Holcomb has made a proposal to the Tobacco Institute to expand his 'Scientific Witness Team (SWT). The Tobacco Institute must have been acted upon the proposal almost immediately. Only a few days later, this memo circulated within the Tobacco Institute:

    The Institute currently has a team of nine scientific consultants (the so-called "second team" ) who provide expert testimony before state and local legislative and regulatory bodies, attend and report on scientific meetings, and prepare "quick and dirty" critiques of scientific reports and letters-to-editors of general and scientific publications.

    The nine are:

    1. Larry Holcomb and Joe Pedelty (both of Holcomb Environmental Services)
    2. Walt Decker (Toxicology Consultancy Services)
    3. Barry Seabrook (Holcomb Environmental Services)
    4. Larry Halfen (a toxicologist from Environmental Consultants Inc)
    5. Jack Peterson (Industrial hygienist of Peterson Associates)
    6. David Weeks (Boise Idaho physician with Per-Med Corp.)
    7. George Carlo (a newcomer to tobacco, but a lifelong faux-science operator: Dow Chemicals, CTIA, water quality, etc)
    8. Maurice LeVois (Environmental Health Resources in Calif. also a partner with Carlo in many ventures.)
    [Note: George Louis Carlo was a serial and wide-ranging operator in the field of pseudo-science; he was particularly audacious, and was willing to be an 'independent expert' on any subject the client required. He had a staff of four or so who were equally as flexible (lectures, witness services, pseudo-research, etc). Maurice LeVois was often a partner in many of his scams.
    The group dealt in countering claims of harm from toxic chemicals like Agent Orange and pesticides; in fighting food-pollution scares; in discounting the dangers of toxic dioxin spills into Melbourne (Aust.) water supply, etc.
    Carlo then shifted into downplaying nuclear waste threats and radiation leaks, and was then contracted by the Cellular Telephone Industry Association (CTIA) to run a $27million dollar semi-pseudo research program to prove the high-powered early digital GSM/D-AMPS models were safe. (They weren't). He then set up a business selling cell-phone radiation protection devices (which of course, didn't work but raked in the money from the gullible.]

    Larry Holcomb coordinated both the activities and "continuing education" of this expanded 'Scientific Witness Team. He comments on each of them:

    • Carlo and LeVois, relative newcomers to the team, have not yet been used as witnesses but will be available for next year's legislative season.
    • Peterson and Weeks, famous for their "Truth Squad" media tours, now only rarely appear as witnesses for TI.
    • Halfen also submitted a letter to American Journal of Physical Health (AJPH) on ETS exposure and its public policy implications.
    • Alan Katzensteinanother scientific consultant who does not testify for TI, has produced three letters:
    • to the" Journal of the American Medical Association'" on ETS and cervical cancer;
    • to "Environmental Science and Technology" on ETS components; and
    • to "Business Week" on excise taxes, covering social costs. [14]

    1989 Sep 18 Plan to oppose idea that ETS is an air-toxic 515541696 C&B recruited "first team" of six whitecoats. Rupp reports LK continues to be prolific and did a good critique of the Slattery cervical cancer study which was submitted to JAMA (declined to run it)

    1989 Dec /E The Tobacco Institute has circulated this list of available 'consultants' who are willing to give testimony at ordinance hearings, or before State assemblies, promoting the tobacco industry's line. Basically there are four categories with lists of names -- all well known long-term tobacco industry friends and "smoke deniers". They say that the ...

    • TI consults with 37 ETS and IAQ scientists: 14 are members of university or medical school faculties; 23 are professional consultants; 11 are exclusively expert on IAQ. ** Scientific disciplines include chemistry, toxicology, biochemistry, statistics, medicine, environmental science, biostatistics and industrial hygiene.

    It the gives the breakdown as being

    It also provides details of "Length of relationship," "How we use them," and ... the "Kinds of things they do"

    • Testify on federal, state and local smoking restriction and indoor air quality bills and regulations -- explaining complex scientific information in straightforward lay terms.
    • Appear on television and radio talk shows -- often in debate formats -- in areas where smoking restriction activity is underway.
    • Assist the industry in responding to media reports by preparing critiques of adverse research.
    • Help reassure allies that they are on solid scientific ground

    It then lists "What Have They Done lately", "Strengths", and "Limitations", Another section deals with special consultants for workplace smoking discussions with corporate CEOs to persuade them not to implement bans:

    • John Fox' and Dennis Vaughn, two contracted labor lawyers (Womble Carlyle)
    • Lewis Solomon, Dean of the UCLA Graduate School of Education (who attacks workplace smoking problems associated with productivity and absenteeism) [15]

    1990 /E Tobacco Institute EPA Risk Assessment Submissions

    Alan Katzenstein:
    Katzenstein states that one cannot assess a possible role of ETS in lung cancer in nonsmokers without considering confounding factors. Many of these confounding factors can yield relative risks greater than those obtained in the Review Draft.

    He discusses occupational exposures, diet, socioeconomic status, air pollution, nutritional status, cooking methods, "lifestyle," menstrual cycle, previous respiratory diseases, familial history of lung cancer, genetic factors, and keeping of pet birds, none of which was adjusted for in the epidemiological studies.

    The expected strong effect of confounders and multiple risk factors trivializes the Review Draft's calculated relative risk. [16]

    He is also on a list of Risk Assess Criticisms (Type-in Bates Number) 2501191209 and possibly also in 1994 (Type-in Bates Number) 2021159207| TI submission on EPA's ETS assess

    1990 Tobacco Institute's Confidential notes on Public Smoking hearings: Consultants: who they are, how long have they been working for TI, what they do. Background

    • TI consults with 37 ETS and IAQ scientists :
    • 14 are members of university or medical school faculties ;
    • 23 are professional consultants ;
    • 11 are exclusively expert on IAQ .
    • Scientific disciplines include chemistry, toxicology, biochemistry, statistics, medicine, environmental science, biostatistics and industrial hygiene.

    Who

    (Note: this is essentially the same list as that presented in December 1989)

    The document lists the following activites of these consultants.

    • How we use them
    • Prepare and deliver testimony .
    • Conduct briefings with legislators; regulators ; lobbyists; and coalition allies.
    • Conduct two ETS and one IAQ media tour per month.
    • Conduct empirical IAQ research .
    • Monitor scientific developments on ETS and IAQ.
    • Prepare articles for publication.
    • Submit letters to editors of scientific and general audience publications.
    • Attend and report on scientific conferences.
    • Kinds of things they do
    • Testify on federal, state and local smoking restriction and indoor air quality bills and regulations -- explaining complex scientific information in straightforward lay terms.
    • Appear on television and radio talk shows -- often in debate formats -- in areas where smoking restriction activity is underway.
    • Assist the industry in responding to media reports by preparing c=itiques of adverse research.
    • Help reassure allies that they are on solid scientific ground. [17]

    1990 Jun 3 Alan Katzenstein bills $1,125 for his professional services in preparing a Letter to the Editor of the AMA's medical journal (JAMA). He is responding to an article or research report written by Davis et al. However he doesn't need to consult scientists to refute their findings. His research involved consultation with the Tobacco Institute and its Kansas City lawyers Shook Hardy & Bacon, and it was billed through the Washington law firm of Covington & Burling. [18]

    1990 Jul The Tobacco Institute lists the 'consultants' who have served them in various capacities in the previous year, and outlines what service each of them has provided (on a month-by-month basis) One part lists:

    Science and Public Policy/ETS
    Risk Assessment Alan Katzenstein

    • 1/90 Response to Wells article for Environment International (published)
    • 2/90 Letter to the editor on ETS for The Commercial Appeal
    • 3/90 Response to Allred article in the New England Journal of Medicine (published)
    • 6/90 Response to Davis et al. in the Journal of the American Medical Association

    Current Projects:

    • Comments on EPA ETS risk assessment (emphasis on confounders) [19]

    1990 Jul 23 A letter (not sent to the Tobacco Institute, although this letter is in their files) says that Katzenstein has accepted a speaking engagement at the Cato Institute conference "Making Sense of Safety" (21-22 March 1991), and they want him to speak on Environmental Tobacco Smoke in opposition to a Stanton Glantz paper implicating ETS in heart disease.

    [Note: Glantz from Uni of San Francisco was always a fierce opponent of the tobacco industry.]
    • "For introductory purposes, I would also like to know your professional background and who was the client for your first paper on this issue. Cato will pay him a $1000 speakers fee and an additional $500 on the paper's publication in 'Regulation' (the Cato Institute magazine which was always open to publishing pro-tobacco articles.)

    His paper is the only one projected to be on tobacco smoke. It was headed: "Environmental Tobacco Smoke and Health Risks: An Overview of the Evidence" by Alan Katzenstein, Katzenstein Associates

    [Note that at least half the speakers at the Cato conference are 'tobacco industry friends' and most of them claim to be involved in the fashionable field of 'Risk Assessment' (many of the others would have worked for other industries with a worker-safety issue). Risk-Assessment was high-fashion in the pollution defence business during the 1980s and 90s,]
    The experts contracted to prepare papers on 'risk assessment' for the tobacco industry were:

    1990 Aug 3 Sam Chilcote at the Tobacco Institute has advised the Members of the Executive Committee of plans to develop a celebrity speakers program using academics and other expert consultants. They offer the speakers both money and personal/companypromotion:

    [W]hile it is clear that there are a number of individuals who can and are speaking out on our issues independent of The Institute, there also is much more that could be done. There are, for example, opportunities to develop higher profiles for those individuals with whom we enjoy an existing relationship, and to increase within the media an awareness of their availability.

    There also are a number of individuals who have been identified who do not currently have a relationship with the industry, but whose views appear to be compatible with our own. Should the Executive Committee decide that it wants to proceed with an expansion of our speakers' program, these individuals would be contacted to determine their interest in our issues.

    The addition of new speakers to our program will be expensive. Most of these individuals command substantial consulting fees; media and other activity will require a new commitment of funds, although an exact amount cannot be determined until candidates have been approached.

    He then lists:

    • Authors, newscasters and newspaper columnists
    • Well-known politicians, political aides, White House staffers, State authorities, agency administrators, etc
    • Heads of various coalition groups (American Advertising Federation. etc)
    • Cash-for-comments legal and business academics from Savarese's network list.
    • Cash-for-comments 'risk assessment' academics and promoter.
    • Cash-for-comment experts in indoor air pollution and ventilation systems.
    • Cash-for-comment academic economists
    • Many other collaborators and some likely allies:

    Alan Katzenstein, along with about a hundred others is thought to be a potential speaker and is credited with recent achievements over the previous year on behalf of the Tobacco Institute. The category heading was: Medical & BioMedical Researchers:

    • Alan Katzenstein of Katzenstein Associates
    • 1/90 Response to Wells article for Environment International (published) *
    • 2/90 Letter to the editor on ETS for The Commercial Appeal
    • 3/90 Response to Allred article in the New England Journal of Medicine (published)
    • 6/90 Response to Davis et al. in the Journal of the American Medical Association
    • Current Projects
    • Comments on EPA ETS risk assessment (emphasis on confounders)
    [Notes: The McGill University ETS Symposium was a very large pseudo-scientific conference held with only the industry's favorite scientists as a way of training them in the latest research and how to counter it.The focus was on countering the EPA ETS Risk Assessment which was then only in DRAFT form, but released for comment.

    The McGill conference was mounted in November 1989 and both funded and controlled by Philip Morris, initially to provide training for its 'Asian WhiteCoats. The 'proceedings' were published by the phantom Institute for International Health & Development and widely distributed an indoor-air quality (IAQ) textbook which exonerated second-hand tobacco smoke as the cause of adverse health effects of any significant office air-quality discomfort.

    [Almost all of the scientists on this list participated] [22]

    1990 Oct 1 These scientists were on the tobacco industry's list of scientists who mounted objection to the DRAFT EPA ETS Risk Assessment
    Health Effects of Passive Smoking: Assessment of Lung cancer in Adults and Respiratory Disorders in Children[23]

    "Comments of Independent Scientists"
    Domingo Aviado   |   Robert C Brown   |   Thomas J Bucci   |   William J Butler   |   Angelo Cerioli   |   John W Clayton   |   Anthony V Colucci   |   Guy Crepat   |   John W Daniel   |   Salvatore R DiNardi   |   John M Faccini   |   Edward J Faeder   |   George Feuer   |   Joseph L Fleiss   &   Alan J Gross   |   Arthur Furst   |   Jean D Gibbons   |   Howard D Goodfellow   |   Gio Batta Gori   |   John W Gorrod   |   Alan J Gross   |   Larry C Holcomb   |   Ronald D Hood   &   Raphael J Witorsch   |   Philip Witorsch   |   Gary L Huber   |   E Lee Husting   |   Karl Jonas   |   Alan W Katzenstein   |   S James Kilpatrick, Jr.   |   Peter N Lee   |   George B Leslie   |   Maurice E LeVois   &   Maxwell W Layard   |   Torbjorn Malmfors   |   Nathan Mantel   |   Dennis Paustenbach   |   joseph Pedelty   |   Mark J Reasor   &  James A Will   |   Francis JC Roe   |   Ragnar Rylander   |   Bertoldt Schneider   |   Jarnail Singh   |   Petr Skrabanek   |   Anthony Springall   |   Theodor Sterling   |   Paul Switzer   |   John A Todhunter   |   Richard Tweedie   |   Lawrence M Wexler   |   Joseph M Wu

    [Every one in the above list was a mercenary in the employ of the tobacco industry.] [24]

    1990 Oct 11 (The Tobacco Institute's ETS Group in Action)
    The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) is holding hearings on the banning of smoking on interstate buses. These are the scientific submission funded by the Tobacco Institute using the ETS Group listings of Philip Morris.

    "Critical comments were filed by:"

    [Every one of the above was a life-long tobacco shill.] [25]

    1990 Dec This document is a Tobacco Institute Consultant Activity list for the three years (1988-1990) which details the highlites of the consultant's services. It is clear that Katzenstein has only been used in 1990 at this stage, and then only occasionally.

    Alan Katzenstein, Katzenstein Associates,

    • 1/90 Response to Wells article for Environment International (published)
    • 2/90 Letter to the editor on ETS for The Commercial Appeal
    • 3/90 Response to Allred article in the New England Journal of Medicine (published)
    • 6/90 Response to Davis et al, in the Journal of the American Medical Association
    • 10/90 Comments on EPA ETS risk assessment (emphasis on confounders) [26]
    [Note: Obviously, at this time he was used mainly to generate scientific denial pieces for major trade or medical journals.]

    1991 /E The Tobacco Institute's Public Affairs files on Public Smoking and Scientific now has him listed as a consultant along with a raft of other known tobacco lackies and companies that service the Institute. [27]

    Tobacco Institute Consultants 1991
    Alan GrossAlan KatzensteinBernard LiebermanDave Brenton
    Gail CharnleyWalter DeckerJosh DouglasJohn Doull
    Joseph FleissLarry HalfenLarry HolcombW Gary Flamm
    Howard GoodfellowKarl JonasJames Kilpatrick James Pedelty
    Marvin GoodmanMilt MeckerMaurice LeVoisLawrence Wexler
    Paul SwitzerJack PetersonMark ReasorRon Hood
    David A WeeksJames WillJospeh Wu

    One names here is patently wrong: Jack Pedelty must be Joseph Pedelty ('Joe') of Holcomb Environmental Services. They have mixed up Joe Pedelty with his close associate Jack Peterson who were often listed together. [28] [29]

    1991 Mar 21-22

    • The Cato Institute Regulation Conference on Risk Assessment' "Making Sense of Safety" list Alan Katzenstein, as being from Katzenstein Associates [30]
      • His paper was: "Environmental Tobacco Smoke and Health Risks: An Overview of the Evidence"
      Michael Gough of OTA and John Graham of HCRA are also on the speaking panel. Also W Kip Viscusi, Aaron Wildavsky, Sam Kazman (to name just the most obvious tobacco touts.) [31]

      1991 March The report of the "Public Smoking Issues" group at the Tobacco institute lists the highlights of their month:

      • ETS scientific consultants continued preparing additional scientific analyses for submission to the EPA and its Science Advisory Board, and for publication in scientific journals, based on the SAB's recommendations for revision of the ETS risk assessment.
      • We also began new meta analysis calculations based on results of a new epidemiologic study of ETS and lung cancer. (They attacked the techniques of meta-analysis when it was used by the EPA)
      • A consulting scientist sent his letter comparing EPA's ETS risk assessment with its risk assessment on electromagnetic radiation to the chairman of the SAB committee which reviewed the EMF risk assessment, to the SAB's Executive Director and to individual members of the SAB Executive Committee . We agreed also to provide the letter to EPA's Deputy Administrator for Research and Development, and to consider possible additional uses.
      (George Carlo, one of their key corrupt scientists, had also begun to work for the Cellular Telephone Industry Association (CTIA) on the problem that the pulsed high-power mobiles (D-AMPS and GSM) at that time had been shown to break DNA in the brain cells of laboratory mice.)

      • TI consultants continued working to develop a conference on science and policy to be sponsored by an independent scientific organization. They also began preparing for a conference scheduled for June 11 under the auspices of the International Society for Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology concerning risk assessment guidelines published by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

      • A TI consultant presented a paper on ETS, with specific reference to the EPA ETS risk assessment, at a Cato Institute symposium

      entitled "Making Sense of Safety ."

      * The Tobacco Institute has a draft of his speech (and also a later final).
      * Also the program for Cato Institute's Washington DC conference.

      At that time the tobacco industry and some other major polluters had come to realise the media benefits of promoting the pseudo-science of Risk Assessment and Management as a way to hamstring the EPA, OSHA and FDA. One of the main leaders of this 'risk assessment' push promoted by corporate interests in the USA was the science-for-sale academic John D Graham of the Harvard Center for Risk Analyis (HRCA), which started life as the Harvard School of Public Health's Center for Risk Assessment.

      Other conference speakers included in these lists, were also tobacco funded academics and commercial lobbyists:

      Most of the speakers listed in the draft and final agenda were tobacco lobbyists or long-term secret industry consultants, Alan Katzenstein was a statistical consultant who worked almost exclusively for the Tobacco Institute at this time. Cash-for-comments economist Richard McKenzie had also been drafted to speak on "Airline Safety".

      (Note: The early draft program sent to Philip Morris shows that the tobacco lobbyists were locked in early. The proposed speaker's list changed in subsequent drafts.) [32] (Final Program) [33]


      1994 Katzenstein was now engaged in writing letters denying the reality of climate change. [34]

      1998 Aug 11 The Working Draft (Confidential) of a lawyer's list of tobacco industry helpers -- under the title: Expert / Consultant Submissions Regarding ETS to Regulatory Agencies on Behalf of Philip Morris Alan Katzenstein is one of the hundreds listed as having given evidence for the Tobacco Institute at various hearings, etc. [35]


      1988 to 1993 Diana L Avedon at the Tobacco Institute ran a major media-tour operation called the Scientific Witness Teams. This operation circulated variable teams of TI staff spokespersons, contracted sham air-testing company staff, one or more Covington & Burling lawyers, and other more specialied tobacco lobbyists. They were used in two ways:

      1. As fire-fighters, to turn up in some town or region when problem about public or workplace smoking was arising, and do media interviews.
      2. To make regular media tours through various parts of the country to promote Tobacco Institute propaganda.

      They were paid to visit major cities in each state, where the Regional Tobacco Institute staff would have arranged radio, TV or news coverage, and set up meetings with key officials at the local councils, counter air-ports (smoking bans) and meet with the editorial boards of media outlets. This is Diana Avedon's list of the key contractors on these group media-tours. It had the advantage of each participant getting to know the others, which introduced a collegial element to their shared message distortions.

      1993 Jun 1   TI list of "Witness/Expert Appearances Scientific/Legal/Spokespersons."
      Thomas Lauria
      Assistant to the Tobacco Institute President,       		Mike Buckley
      lawyer-lobbyist with Covington & Burling,       		Simon Turner
      IAQ witness/executive of ACVA/HBI,
      Gio Batta Gori
      Corrupt science researcher at Nat. Cancer Institute
      He ran the Tobacco Working Group for the industry until fired.       		Bill Wordham
      Tobacco Institute's Media spokesperson       		Gray Robertson
      Partner in ACVA then owner of HBI
      Lifelong contractor for sham air-testing with TI
      Peter Binnie
      owner/partner of ACVA and HBI
      He sold his share of HBI to Gray Robertson      		 Larry Holcomb
      Ran sham air-testing company (airlines)
      Holcomb Environmental Services       		John C Fox
      Lawyer lobbyist for TI via Pettit & Martin
      Later also through Pillsbury Madison & Sutro
      Richard Silberman
      Healthy Buildings International (HBI)
      spokesman on 'sick buildings'       		Walter Merryman
      TI Public Relations, then Issues Management
      Later VP at the Tobacco Institute.      		 David Remes
      legal strategist from the main law firm
      Covington & Burling (C&B)
      Frank Powell
      National Energy Management Institute
      (NEMI) organiser who worked for TI       		Melinda L Sidak
      C&B lawyer; strategist in science corruption
      Worked on recruitment of scientists.       		Rudy Cole
      He ran restaurant front-group RSVP
      He organised lobby against smoking bans.
      Larry Halfen
      Environmental Consultants; TI witness
      An attached 1991 Witness List includes
      Brennan Dawson
      Media relations at the Tobacco Institute       		Jeff Seckler
      Exec. in charge of HBI's sham air testing
      He later turned whistleblower.       		Jim Goold
      Lawyer sent on media tours by the Tobacco institute to train witnesses.
      Joe Pedelty
      worked for Holcomb Environmental Services
      Did sham air-testing for TI       		Jolly Ann Davidson
      NASBE school/educational lobbyist,
      ran "Helping Youth Decide" program for TI      		Dick Wagner
      GMU economics professor (Tollison aide)
      Key in cash-for-comments network
      Bernadette Davidson
      lawyer and media lobbyist with John Fox
      She was retained by TI as IAQ witness       		Walter J Decker
      Ran Toxicology Consultancy Services
      Provide witness services for the TI
      Also attached is a 1990 Witness List (page 35) includes
      Bill Orzechowski
      TI Director of Economic Issues
      He was ex-US Chambers of Commerce       		Mike Davis (Dallas Texas)
      Prof of Econ. and Business Management
      Witness for the Tobacco Institute.       		Morris Coats
      Prof Economics West Virginia.
      Worked in cash-for-comments net.
      The main long document has this 1989 witness list attached with the addition (to above)
      Dwight Lee
      economics professor and leader of
      cash-for-comments economists network      		 David A Weeks
      Boise Idaho physician, TI Witness
      Partner of S James Kilpatrick in Per-Med Corp.       		Alan Kassman
      Ex tobacco industry scientist. Retrained
      to provide legislative and media briefings.
      Robert Tollison
      GMU professor of economics who ran the
      cash-for-comments economists network      		Richard Wagner
      Economics professor and TI witness.
      Tollison's understudy in c-for-c network       		Jack E Peterson
      Industrial hygienist; ran Peterson Assoc.
      Also worked for Dow Chemicals
      Bestype Consulting Corporation
      they ran TI's "Sick Building Syndrome"
      and "Tight Building Syndrome" seminars.      		Dennis A Vaughn
      Lawyer-lobbyist for Tobacco Institute,
      Associate of John Fox at P&M and PM & Sutro
      The 1988 List includes most of above with the additions of:
      Alan W Katzenstein
      Biostatistician with Katzenstein Assoc.
      Witness for Tobacco Institute,       		David Brenton
      Ran the Smokers Rights Alliance
      His wife Sue had her focus on airline smoking.
      http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/otz92b00/pdf

      [Numerous other documents detail the day-to-day organization of these groups spread over five or more years.]  

      The RICO Case against Tobacco.

      1999 Sep to 2005 Sep: The USA's DC District Court issued its Amended Final Opinion in the Racketeering Influences and Corrupt Organisation (RICO) case against the US tobacco companies. This 2000 page document includes:
      • 155. A May 1, 1972 memorandum from Fred Panzer, a public relations specialist with the Tobacco Institute, to Tobacco Institute President Horace Kornegay began by describing past industry action:
          For nearly twenty years, this industry has employed a single strategy to defend itself ... it has always been a holding strategy, consisting of creating doubt about the health charge without actually denying it … advocating the public’s right to smoke without actually urging them to take up the practice ... encouraging objective scientific research as the only way to resolve the question of health hazard.
        Panzer went on to discuss a proposed public relations campaign -- The Roper Proposal -- designed to persuade the public that
          "cigarette smoking may not be the health hazard that the anti-smoking people say it is because other alternatives are at least as probable" (emphasis omitted).
        The proposed campaign would suggest two such possible alternatives:
        (1) the constitutional hypothesis, i.e., smokers differ importantly from nonsmokers in terms of heredity, constitutional makeup, lifestyle, and stress; and
        (2) the multi-factorial hypothesis, i.e., other factors such as air pollution, viruses, food additives, and occupational hazards contribute to diseases for which smoking is considered a cause.

    2013 Mar 13 Republic Report: Investigating How Money Corrupts Democacy Republican consultant Frank Luntz, a master of words, made clear in a 2002 GOP strategy memo how conservatives would address the growing threat of climate change: They would simply deny it was happening. One of the founding fathers of this strategy is linked to all three of those denial efforts. As President Obama calls for action on climate change, to help prevent further rises in temperature and future Katrinas and Sandys, we should study the methods of one Alan W. Katzenstein, and figure out how to overcome such obstruction of the truth.

    Alan Katzenstein, according to his resume, received a bachelor of science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1942. A bio he circulated claimed he had “a background in chemical and biological sciences,” but his only graduate degree was an MBA from New York University. Katzenstein’s resume says he worked on “product development, quality control and Navy and Air Force organizations” for a decade, and then spent 15 years working at advertising firms in New York before starting his own company, Katzenstein Associates in 1973. He described himself on his resume as a “Consultant on public affairs and issue management.” Rather than a scientist, Katzenstein was a PR man.

    By the early 1980’s, Katzenstein was working as a consultant to the Edison Electric Institute, a trade association of power companies, most of them dependent on coal. Public concern was mounting that burning of coal and other fossil fuels was contributing to acid rain — increased acidity of precipitation that harms waterways, soil, trees, buildings, statues, and, ultimately, human health. Clear scientific evidence from the EPA, the National Research Council, and other bodies showed that sulfur dioxide emissions from burning coal was helping cause acid rain. Katzenstein went to work to prevent new regulations, producing a torrent of articles, op-eds, letters to the editor, and more, with titles like “The Real Facts About Acid Rain.” [Much more at this site] http://www.republicreport.org/2013/alan-katzenstein-climate-denial/


    References

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