Smithsonian Project Loses Oil Sponsor

Members of the petroleum institute, an 84-year-old trade association representing more than 400 oil and natural-gas corporations, viewed the donation as a way to show the industry was concerned about global warming and other environmental issues.

API has given about $200,000 to various parts of the Smithsonian, including the Natural History Museum, the astrophysical observatory and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md.

Board members at API were upset at the content of an e-mail exchange published in The Post detailing the internal debate on the petroleum gift, according to two people close to API who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. The e-mail was sent by Risser to Board of Regents Executive Committee Chairman Roger W. Sant, who led the regents in questioning the donation.

Risser wrote, "Because petroleum companies have not always been friends of the oceans, one logical conclusion would be to deny their participation in the Ocean Initiative. 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."

Sant declined comment yesterday but previously he told the Post, "I want to be sure that the sponsor's behavior is consistent with the message we're trying to deliver. It is a question mark given the record of oil spills in the past two decades." The other regent who questioned the gift was Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).

Samper, who is a candidate for the secretary of the Smithsonian job, referred calls to Risser.

Asked if he would have done anything differently, Risser said the museum had followed usual procedure and he was surprised by the outcome. "We didn't have any indication of difficulties with it" before Sant raised questions about the donation at the September Board of Regents meeting, he said.

Staff writer Jacqueline Trescott contributed to this story.