"Dozens of climate scientists and environmental groups are calling for museums of science and natural history to “cut all ties” with fossil fuel companies and philanthropists like the Koch brothers. A letter released on Tuesday asserts that such money is tainted by these donors’ efforts to deny the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change. “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 states. “This corporate philanthropy comes at too high a cost.”" - Jessie

"The letter does not mention specific companies, but it does name David H. Koch, who sits on the boards of the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and has given tens of millions of dollars to those institutions. Koch Industries is a privately held corporation with subsidiaries in energy and other industries. Mr. Koch and his family have funded conservative causes, including scientists and organizations that contest the role of humans in climate change. Public records show that many fossil-fuel companies have made similar contributions to such organizations and scientists over the years. The letter is a project of the Natural History Museum, a mobile museum that draws attention to “social and political forces that shape nature yet are left out of traditional natural history museums,” said its co-founder and director, Beka Economopoulos. A petition drive, also released on Tuesday and sponsored by environmental organizations including Greenpeace and the Sierra Club, urges the Smithsonian and the American Museum of Natural History to “Kick Koch off the board!” Michael Mann, a climate scientist at Pennsylvania State University and signer of the letter, said the donors seek a halo they do not deserve. “Cloaked in the garb of civic-mindedness, they launder their image while simultaneously and covertly influencing the content offered by those institutions,” he said. Eric Wohlschlegel, a spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute, said he could not comment on the letter because he had not seen it." - Jessie

"Allegations that contributions from donors like Mr. Koch influence institutions exhibits are not new. A 2010 investigation in The New Yorker noted that an underlying message of exhibits in the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is that humans “evolved in response to a changing world.” The article said that such language suggests that climate change has been a feature of the planet since prehistoric times, which plays down human contributions to climate change. Randall Kremer, director of public affairs for the museum, said that Mr. Koch served on the advisory board, which is “a consultative board not a governing board,” and that “the museum director has no plans to ask any members to step down.” Mr. Kremer added that while Mr. Koch was the largest single donor to the museum, “he signed our standard gift agreement, which prohibits donor or sponsor involvement in content.” A spokesman for the American Museum of Natural History, Roberto Lebron, said, “Donors do not determine the interpretation or presentation of scientific content.” Eric Chivian, founder of the center for health and the global environment at Harvard Medical School and a signer of the letter, said he was not convinced that policies barring donors from having direct control over exhibits are effective. “It is just human nature not to bite the hand that feeds you,” he said. Mr. Koch, who has given $100 million to Lincoln Center to renovate the former New York State Theater and supports many other institutions, has said that his contributions to the museums come from a deep love of science, and from being “blown away and just fascinated” by the dinosaurs on his first visit to the American Museum of Natural History when he was 14. Mr. Koch and his company did not respond directly to a request for comment about the letter. Dr. Chivian, who as co-founder of the group International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War shared the organization’s 1985 Nobel Prize, said natural history museum contributions from the Koch brothers were fundamentally different from their contributions to arts institutions. “The Koch brothers have no stake in what is played at Lincoln Center,” Dr. Chivian said. But such funding for museums is no more acceptable than it would be if “a major tobacco company offered to fund an exhibit for them devoted to lung diseases.” Chris Norris, a paleontologist and prominent blogger on museum issues, warned that if museums started removing board members or turning down donations, they risked damaging their reputations for objectivity. Doing so, he added, would enable “others to argue that the information they provide is partisan and not to be trusted.”" - Jessie