Canada Science and Technology Museum takes $50K from big oil to promote the Tar Sands to children!

OTTAWA – Sierra Club Canada questions the propriety of the Canada Science and Technology Museum to provide a venue for children to view Tar Sands propaganda from the oil industry. The exhibit, “Energy: Power to Choose”, was funded at least in-part by a $50,000 contribution from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP).
“The oil industry will stop at nothing in its relentless public relations campaign to blind Canadians from the truth about the Tar Sands and climate change,” said John Bennett, Executive Director of Sierra Club Canada. “Accepting payments from oil companies calls into question the Museum’s ethical judgment and intellectual honesty. It will undermine its reputation with the Canadian by appearing to side with big oil on this highly controversial subject.”

In an attempt to stem deserved bad publicity, CAPP is spending millions of dollars on an advertising campaign in Canada and the United States. Last year Sierra Club Canada helped force CAPP to withdraw a television ad that said Tar Sands tailings ponds were essentially “like yogurt”.

“CAPP is not above spinning the facts it is favour or using misleading language,” said Mr. Bennett. “They know that ‘if you can’t convince them, confuse them’ and they’ve done a very good job confusing Canadians.”

Sierra Club Canada has called for a moratorium on expansion of the Tar Sands until there is a credible climate change plan in Canada and the pollution, health and social problems caused by present development have been fully addressed.

John Bennett
Executive Director
Sierra Club Canada
jb@sierraclub.ca
613.291.6888

UPDATE:
Oil-sponsor role questioned at museum exhibit
CBC News, January 23, 2012