Tobacco and Ecological Destruction

Half a million acres of trees are cut down to cure tobacco each year, thus contributing to global warming. 1 out of every 8 trees cut down are used in tobacco production leading to desertification in some areas.

Jacques Cousteau wrote years ago, "Worldwide, 69 percent of tobacco-growing land is in developing countries. Eleven million acres (4.5 million hectares) of land in the world grow tobacco instead of food." Most of that 11 million acres worth of tobacco is cured using fuels--wood in developing areas But in US and Europe, how many tons of coal and coke, or cubic feet of natural gas (fossil carbon) are used?

Also, methyl bromide, used on tobacco, depletes the ozone layer. Problems with pesticides include run-off into streams.

From pesticides to deforestation to just plain nasty litter, tobacco detrimentally impacts our environment. The tobacco industry has been aware of its contributions to environmental destruction for a long time. Industry documents show that since the early 1980s the tobacco industry has been monitoring the environmental movement and deciding how to act in opposition.