H/T to CMD for linking to this Washington Post article. Seems the Smithsonian has put a hold on a donation of $5 Mil. The donor: American Petroleum Institute. From the WaPo writeup:
The Smithsonian Institution has taken the rare step of putting on hold a $5 million donation from the American Petroleum Institute after two members of the museum complex's Board of Regents, including a U.S. senator, balked at accepting oil-industry money for a major initiative on the world's oceans.
The longtime chairman of the regents' executive committee, Roger W. Sant, and Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), one of the six congressional regents, raised objections when the donation appeared on the board's agenda. Sant, a former energy industry executive who has donated millions of dollars to ocean conservation, said he is worried that the oil-and-gas money could taint the showcase "Ocean Initiative," which is scheduled to include a major exhibit hall and a multimedia Web site.
Good on ya gents! It warms the cockles of my lil black heart to hear this. No corporation should be able to buy good press by giving money to places like the Smithsonian. Sure, the Smithsonian needs donations of this magnitude..but still, you can't let these fuckwits from the Oil Industry play politics by generating 'good press' all because they tossed what amounts to for them, a few bucks at an Environmental exhibit. The exhibit in question is called "Ocean Hall" and its a Web site to showcase ocean research, a Sant Chair for Marine Science and related programs. The hall, which will be the largest exhibition space at the National Museum of Natural History, is to open next fall.
Why don't the mutha fuckas donate that money to the towns in Alaska that were financially wiped out because of the Valdez Oil Spill? Seems the pricks at Exxon refuse to pay the judgement rendered against them and have spent decades running it through the court systems..it's now going to be heard by the rightwing cartel known as the US Supreme Court.
Or put their money where their friggin mouths are and set up a fund to rehabilitate the animals caught in their damn oil spills. Tell the oil men you don't want their 'blood money'.
Bastids..
Tags: American Petroleum Industry, Smithsonian, Ocean Hall
