How smart were those 9 million people? Given that most of them live in zones where they couldn't apply even the simplest agriculture techniques, I would say not much.
Now and always, yes. You can read any mass media newspaper website and you will find global warming theory advocacy left and right. Whatever little greenwashing they publish paid by big oil pales in comparison to that.
Ecologists use their media presence to spread the idea that emission scandals destroy your brand. The (unfortunate, for them) truth is that people don't care.