A letter of support from Bill McKibben
Notable author and climate change activist Bill McKibben called on people across Canada today to tell the Museum of History to cut its ties to Big Oil.
Big Oil has no place in Canada’s Museum of History.
For 5 years, the Canadian Museum of History accepted sponsorship from Canada’s dirtiest oil lobby — the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). In March 2017, we launched a campaign calling on the Museum of History to cut CAPP — thousands of people across the country echoed this call.
In September, we met with the Museum of History’s CEO Mark O’Neill to bring the voices of thousands to the table. We learned that our campaign worked. The Museum’s sponsorship agreement with CAPP is approaching an end — and decision makers are not entertaining a new deal. This campaign achieved a huge milestone all because thousands of people across the country called on the Museum to cut its ties to Canada’s dirtiest oil lobby. Thank you for speaking up.
Thank the Museum CEO for standing on the right side of history.
After thousands of people signed our petition, we showed up at the Museum’s Annual General Meeting, and made powerful interventions calling on the Museum to stand up to Big Oil. We topped things off in July by “putting CAPP on display” in the Museum with an unsanctioned exhibit right after the launch of the Museum’s new “Canada History Hall” exhibit. It’s truly incredible to think of what we were able to achieve in such a short time.
Even though the CEO didn’t commit to refusing dirty money in the future, we know that the Museum has been on its toes since we started speaking up. People power will ensure the Museum of History’s decision makers will think twice about accepting oil sponsorship in the future.
Blogs:
#CutCAPP demonstration at Canadian Museum Association Conference
Demonstrators showed up at the Museum of History as the Museum showcased a Big Oil sponsored exhibit for the Canadian Museums Association conference. Here are the highlights.
Museum of History needs to cut ties with Big Oil
The good news is, we can do something about it. The Museum of Natural History in New York, and the Tate Modern in London, have both been applauded for ending relationships with big oil. If the Museum of History ends its relationship with CAPP, it will join these leaders and send a powerful signal that CAPP stands on the wrong side of history, but the Museum of History does not.