Koch Bros., Gates back Heartland Inst. attack on science teaching

Leaked documents, from a nonprofit organization in Chicago called the Heartland Institute, outline plans to promote a curriculum that would undermine the teaching of science and in particular, the well-established scientific determination that fossil fuel emissions endanger the long-term welfare of the planet. The papers were published earlier this week on the DeSmogBlog website.

That's not all. The leaks reveal that Heartland, which benefits from its tax-exempt status as a non-political organization, is also involved in anti-union activities as well as defending of right-wing Wisconsin Gov. Walker who is facing a recall election. According to a New York Times report:

The documents raise questions about whether the group has undertaken partisan political activities, a potential violation of federal tax law governing nonprofit groups. For instance, the documents outline “Operation Angry Badger,” a plan to spend $612,000 to influence the outcome of recall elections and related fights this year in Wisconsin over the role of public-sector unions.

Heartland's $1.6 million campaign is being discretely bankrolled by the Koch Bros. and other major companies like Bill Gates' Microsoft.Corp. About $100,000 from an anonymous donor was set aside for an alternate school curriculum painting established climate science as "controversial and uncertain" with the aim of "dissuading teachers from teaching science". The Institute was forced to apologize to the corporate donors whose names were revealed in the leaked documents.

Sorry Bill.