If you have deep enough pockets, you can make the world flat again.
Gas drillers shelled out bucks years ago to get the Fort Worth Zoo to say nice things about them. Before long, a diorama exhibit declared that the fossil fuel industry and the animal kingdom went together like PB & J. Which would be true if peanut butter sometimes killed jelly.
If you have billions of dollars like the Koch family you can even convince the Smithsonian to downplay global warming. The Smithsonian accepted millions and now offers a “wildly misleading” exhibit on climate change. Parts of the exhibit are so weird they’re funny, such as downplaying fears about climate change by suggesting humans will evolve and adapt. Kind of like when Kevin Costner grew fish gills in Waterworld.
Koch Industries has reportedly given $67 million to groups denying climate change in the past 15 years. Why? Because Koch is a big polluter. Fortunately for them, institutions like the Smithsonian (and our zoo) are easily bought off.
On the bright side, even if the polar ice caps melt and flood the earth we’ll all have gills!
Thank you. Especially for noting the local example of this madness from the FW Zoo. The “exhibit” on safe fracking at FW Museum of Science & History also comes to mind.
Peckerwoods are going to be peckerwoods, Repugs are going to be Repugs, hammer-heads can be nothing more than hammer-heads. What’s new here? The genius who fired the lady who was the best newspaper editor in Texas disagrees with me however. Bone stupidity and malice aforethought becomes clear to me when I think about the rotten behavior of the Weekly’s owner. I expect George W. Bush is smarter than that loser.