Smithsonian Questions $5 Million In Oil Money

After some discussion, Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts, who as Smithsonian chancellor presides over Board of Regents meetings, called for a motion on the donation. He received no response, and the matter was tabled until the next meeting on Nov. 19.

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Roberts and the other justices are scheduled to hear arguments later this term on ExxonMobil's appeal of $2.5 billion in punitive damages imposed after the Exxon Valdez supertanker slammed into an Alaskan reef in 1989, spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil. ExxonMobil is the API's largest member.

Sant, who is a former chairman of the World Wildlife Fund, has asked Smithsonian officials for additional research about the history of oil spills and how those spills and the transportation of petroleum in sea-going tankers has compromised the health of oceans.

The acting director of the Natural History Museum, Paul Risser, who helped solicit the donation, wrote Sant an e-mail expressing his "profound disappointment" and attempting to change Sant's mind.

"Because petroleum companies have not always been friends of the oceans, one logical conclusion would be to deny their participation in the Ocean Initiative," Risser wrote in an exchange obtained by The Washington Post. "My view is different. It is based on courage and anticipation, on the belief that the Smithsonian has the strength to use understanding to change behavior like no other institution."

The petroleum institute money was primarily intended to sponsor Ocean Portal, "a large-scale online destination that will use current technology to present a substantial body of original content to the public with the goal of helping build informed and concerned stewards of the world's oceans," according to a Regents briefing memo obtained by The Post. The Web site would be aimed at students, teachers, families, marine scientists, policy makers and conservationists.

The API would be listed as lead sponsor of the Web site for at least five years. Ocean Portal would include the petroleum institute's name and logo. When visitors open the Ocean Portal home page, they would see a 20-second animated introduction followed by a two-second acknowledgment of the API's support.

But Risser told Sant in his e-mail that "the museum has total control of the content on the portal."

A billionaire on the Forbes list of the world's richest people, Sant made his money through AES Corp., a power company he founded that is a member of the American Petroleum Institute -- an irony not lost on Sant. "I am an industry guy," Sant said. "I would feel the same way about my company or any other company."

Sant said the petroleum institute's donation would be less of a problem if it were supporting a different type of project, one not so closely linked to the environment.

The last time the Smithsonian publicly rejected a major donation was in 1985. A $5 million gift from Saudi Arabia that had been solicited by Secretary S. Dillon Ripley for buildings near the Smithsonian Castle was ultimately rejected by Ripley's successor, Robert McCormick Adams, after lawmakers and others objected to a Center for Islamic Arts and Culture that was to be built on the Mall as part of the arrangement.

The regents' review of Samper's decision raises questions about the tenuous leadership at the world's largest museum complex as the board searches for a permanent replacement for Small. Interviews with candidates for the secretary's job are scheduled for midwinter. Samper is in the running for the job.

Other organizations have had to decide about donations from oil companies and their representatives.

"In general, we don't seek out or accept funding from oil companies. But that is not an ironclad policy," said Leslie Aun, a spokeswoman for the World Wildlife Fund. "We have received indirect funding in the past for projects."

"It is not an active issue for us," said Ken Peterson, communications director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. "We would review the company case by case to make sure their policies are consistent with our mission. We have an ongoing sponsorship with Pacific Gas, a distributor of power. We feel very comfortable with that."