Gagging For It?

London's Science Museum seems addicted to 'big oil' money. They have now agreed 'sponsorship' with the renamed Norwegian oil and gas company, Equinor. Equinor made record annual profits of £62bn in 2022. They are a major polluter, pumping over 2000m barrels of oil per day. To get the dosh, the Science Museum happily signed a 'gagging clause' (https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/feb/16/science-museum-sponsorship-deal-with-oil-firm-included-gag-clause). By signing the clause, the Science Museum agreed that it and its trustees would take reasonable care to, at no time whilst running their sponsored 'Wonderlab Exhibition', " make any statement or issue any publicity or otherwise be involved in any conduct or matter that may be reasonably forseen as discrediting or damaging the goodwill or reputation of the sponsor". Folk have suggested that agreeing such supine terms, means that the Science Museum can never represent science properly. Science should be about facts (as far as we know them), rather than sponsor sensitivities. Seeking sponsorship from 'big oil' (not for the first time), seems an invitation to 'greenwash'.