Now that I think about it, I bet smoking is a net help for global warming. Here’s my logic (similar to that sometimes made re: social security and smoking). Smoking kills people. People contribute to global warming in more significant ways than smoking — driving, consuming, etc. Smoking in particular kills old people who, odds are, will be more wealthy than young people and therefore more likely to have cars. Also, at least in the west, old people are more likely to have big honkin’ cars with poor gas mileage. And, in the Third World, old smokers are more likely to have the least “green” cars. So, the more people smoke, the fewer of them will be driving big cars which pump fossil fuels into the air.
I’m completely open to being wrong about this since it’s basically a math problem. But, please spare me the angry emails taking this subject far more seriously than I do. Readers are in such a foul mood these days.