Scientists Call On Smithsonian And Other Museums To Reject Fossil Fuel Funding
Source: Huffington Post
Scientists Call On Smithsonian And Other Museums To Reject Fossil Fuel Funding
Posted: 03/24/2015 5:34 pm EDT Updated: 3 hours ago
WASHINGTON -- A group of prominent scientists is lobbying science museums in the United States to stop accepting funding from fossil fuel interests.
"As members of the scientific community we devote our lives to understanding the world, and sharing this understanding with the public," wrote the group of 39 scientists in an open letter to all museums of science and natural history. "We are deeply concerned by the links between museums of science and natural history with those who profit from fossil fuels or fund lobby groups that misrepresent climate science."
The list of notable signers includes James Hansen, a climatologist and the former head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies; Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist in the climate analysis section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research; and Eric Chivian, founder and director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School.
The letter specifically highlights the fact that David Koch, the billionaire funder of both conservative and philanthropic interests, is a sponsor and trustee for the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. The museum's Hall of Human Origins also bears his name thanks to his $15 million donation. His donations to the museum reportedly total at least $35 million.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/24/museums-fossil-fuels_n_6934618.html