Get Climate Science Deniers Out of Science Museums

Sign the petition telling science museums to kick Koch off the board!

The world’s top scientists, including several Nobel Prize winners, just released an unprecedented letter calling on science and natural history museums to cut all ties to the fossil fuel industry. They wrote:

When some of the biggest contributors to climate change and funders of misinformation on climate science sponsor exhibitions in museums of science and natural history, they undermine public confidence in the validity of the institutions responsible for transmitting scientific knowledge. 

The letter comes on the heels of recent news that Smithsonian-affiliated scientist Willie Soon took $1.25 million from the Koch brothers, Exxon Mobil, American Petroleum Institute and other covert funders to publish junk science denying man-made climate change, and failed to disclose any funding-related conflicts of interest.

In particular, the letter points a finger at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (D.C.) and the American Museum of Natural History (NY), where David Koch is a member of the board, a major donor and exhibit sponsor.

Oil mogul David Koch sits on the board of our nation’s largest and most respected natural history museums, while he bankrolls groups that deny climate science.

Click here to sign this petition to the Smithsonian and the American Museum of Natural History: It’s time to get science deniers out of science museums. Kick Koch off the board!

Still undecided about signing the petition? Read on. The most embarrassing and scientifically misleading display that the Smithsonian designed, according to physicist and climatologist Joe Romm, directly suggests that humans can simply evolve to deal with global warming. Romm wrote at Climate Progress:

Smithsonian visitors are asked to “imagine” a time that is “far into the future” when “Earth’s temperature has risen and it’s really hot.” Unbelievably, you are then asked “How do you think your body will evolve?” Your choice is “Will you have a tall, narrow body like a giraffe? Or more sweat glands?” 

Click here to sign the petition.

The petition message and the list of signatures will be delivered to the American Museum of Natural History before their annual board meeting the first week of April, and to the Smithsonian before their board meeting in June.

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The scientist letter was initiated by The Natural History Museum, a new museum that is free from ties to the fossil fuel industry, calls out climate science deniers and culprits obstructing action on climate change, and actively champions the just transition to a sustainable and equitable future.

SPONSORS: The Natural History Museum, Forecast The Facts, Daily Kos, Environmental Action, Rainforest Action Network, Bridge Project, Oil Change International, Other 98%, Courage Campaign, CREDO, Friends of the Earth