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https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/the-strange-history-of-steve-bannon-and-the-biosphere-2-experiment

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Bannon spoke out on climate change concerns more than 20 years ago

During his four years at Breitbart, much of the website's content was devoted to "debunking" climate change, with articles calling its supporters "pure scum" and putting the word science in scare quotes.

But in a 1995 interview for C-SPAN about Biosphere 2, as *Mother Jones* noted, while he was consulting for the project Bannon seems to support the climate change concerns that the Biosphere 2 scientists shared:

"A lot of the scientists who are studying global change and studying the effects of greenhouse gases, many of them feel that the Earth's atmosphere in 100 years is what Biosphere 2's atmosphere is today. We have extraordinarily high CO2, we have very high nitrous oxide, we have high methane. And we have lower oxygen content. So the power of this place is allowing those scientists who are really involved in the study of global change, and which, in the outside world or Biosphere 1, really have to work with just computer simulation, this actually allows them to study and monitor the impact of enhanced CO2 and other greenhouse gases on humans, plants, and animals."

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He was accused of harassing employees

After this takeover, project director Augustine accused Bass of having used his agents to dissociate her from the Biosphere project in breach of an earlier agreement, *Buzzfeed* reported again in August. In a counter-suit, Space Biosphere Ventures accused her of self-dealing and funneling $800,000 of project money.

She claimed this was an effort to slander her out of the position, and accused Bannon, Bass and another banker of a long list of harassment in her complaint: "Both Bowen and Bannon were insulting to the plaintiff and other females employees of Biosphere 2, and in their presence, and against their will, made lewd remarks, told offensive off-color stories, made disparaging remarks about females, made sexually suggestive remarks, discussed females they had known in a lewd and derogatory fashion and in general acted with total indifference to the feelings of the plaintiff and other female employees of Biosphere 2." She also claimed that Bannon once made comments about her being "a woman in a man's job."

In the face of the counter-suit, she dropped her legal action and was removed from the project in 1993.

He threatened the safety of researchers

During his abuse of process trial for the takeover, Bannon acknowledged that he "vowed to kick (Alling's) ass." When Alling claimed she had written a five-page statement about the safety problems with Biosphere 2 after his new management takeover, he "threatened to ram it down her ——- throat," the Tuscon Citizen reported in 1996. He also called her a "self-centered, deluded young woman" and a "bimbo."

All of this, he chalked up to "hard feelings and broken dreams."

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosphere_2

Biosphere 2 is an Earth systems science research facility located in Oracle, Arizona. It has been owned by the University of Arizona since 2011. Its mission is to serve as a center for research, outreach, teaching, and lifelong learning about Earth, its living systems, and its place in the universe. It is a 3.14-acre (1.27-hectare)[1] structure originally built to be an artificial, materially closed ecological system, or vivarium. It remains the largest closed system ever created.[2]

Biosphere 2 was originally meant to demonstrate the viability of closed ecological systems to support and maintain human life in outer space,[3] defining mission one as eight humans for two years. Additionally, it served to explore the web of interactions within life systems in a structure with five areas based on biomes, and an agricultural area and human living and working space to study the interactions between humans, farming, and technology with the rest of nature. It also explored the use of closed biospheres in space colonization, and allowed the study and manipulation of a biosphere without harming Earth's. Its five biome areas were a 1,900 square meter rainforest, an 850 square meter ocean with a coral reef, a 450 square meter mangrove wetlands, a 1,300 square meter savannah grassland, a 1,400 square meter fog desert, a 2,500 square meter agricultural system, a human habitat, and a below-ground infrastructure. Heating and cooling water circulated through independent piping systems and passive solar input through the glass space frame panels covering most of the facility, and electrical power was supplied into Biosphere 2 from an onsite natural gas energy center.[4]

Biosphere 2 was only used twice for its original intended purposes as a closed-system experiment: once from 1991 to 1993, and the second time from March to September 1994. Both attempts, though heavily publicized, ran into problems including low amounts of food and oxygen, die-offs of many animals and plants included in the experiment, squabbling among the resident scientists and management issues.

In June 1994, during the middle of the second experiment, Space Biosphere Ventures dissolved, and the structure was left in limbo. It was purchased in 1995 by Columbia University, who used it to run experiments until 2005. It then looked in danger of being demolished to make way for housing and retail stores, but was taken over for research by the University of Arizona in 2007; the University of Arizona assumed full ownership of the structure in 2011.

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Planning and construction

...Second mission

During the transition period between missions, extensive research and system improvements had been undertaken. Concrete was sealed to prevent uptake of carbon dioxide. The second mission began on March 6, 1994, with an announced run of ten months. The crew was Norberto Alvarez-Romo (Capt.), John Druitt, Matt Finn, Pascale Maslin, Charlotte Godfrey, Rodrigo Romo and Tilak Mahato. The second crew achieved complete sufficiency in food production.[25]

On April 1, 1994 a severe dispute within the management team led to the ousting of the on-site management by federal marshals serving a restraining order, and financier Ed Bass hired Stephen **Bannon**, manager of the Bannon & Co. investment banking team from Beverly Hills, California, to run Space Biospheres Ventures.[26]Some Biosphere-ites were concerned about Bannon, who had previously investigated cost overruns at the site. Two former Biosphere 2 crew members flew back to Arizona to protest the hire and broke into the compound to warn current crew members that Bannon and the new management would jeopardize their safety.[27]

At 3 am on April 5, 1994, Abigail Alling and Mark Van Thillo, members of the first crew, allegedly vandalized the project from outside,[28] opening one double-airlock door and three single door emergency exits, leaving them open for approximately fifteen minutes.Five panes of glass were also broken. Alling later told the Chicago Tribune that she "considered the Biosphere to be in an emergency state... In no way was it sabotage. It was my responsibility."[29] About 10% of the biosphere's air was exchanged with the outside during this time, according to systems analyst Donella Meadows, who received a communication from Ms. Alling in which she explained that she and Van Thillo judged it their ethical duty to give those inside the choice of continuing with the drastically changed human experiment or leaving, as they didn't know what the crew had been told of the new situation. “On April 1, 1994, at approximately 10 AM … limousines arrived on the biosphere site … with two investment bankers hired by Mr. Bass …. They arrived with a temporary restraining order to take over direct control of the project …. With them were 6-8 police officers hired by the Bass organization…. They immediately changed locks on the offices …. All communication systems were changed (telephone and access codes), and [we] were prevented from receiving any data regarding safety, operations, and research of Biosphere 2.” Alling emphasized several times in her letter that the “bankers” who suddenly took over “knew nothing technically or scientifically, and little about the biospherian crew.”[30]

Four days later, the captain Norberto Alvarez-Romo (by then married to Biosphere 2 chief executive Margaret Augustine) precipitously left the Biosphere for a "family emergency" after his wife's suspension.[29] He was replaced by Bernd Zabel, who had been nominated as captain of the first mission but who was replaced at the last minute. Two months later, Matt Smith replaced Matt Finn.[citation needed]

The ownership and management company Space Biospheres Ventures was officially dissolved on June 1, 1994. This left the scientific and business management of the mission to the interim turnaround team, who had been contracted by the financial partner, Decisions Investment Co.[20]

Mission 2 was ended prematurely on September 6, 1994. No further total system science has emerged from Biosphere 2 since that date.[20]

Steve Bannon left Biosphere 2 after two years, but his departure was marked by a civil lawsuit filed against Space Biosphere Ventures by the former crew members who had broken in.[31] During a 1996 trial, Bannon testified that he had called one of the plaintiffs, Abigail Alling, a "self-centered, deluded young woman" and a "bimbo." He also testified that when the woman submitted a five-page complaint outlining safety problems at the site, he promised to shove the complaint "down her fucking throat." Bannon attributed this to "hard feelings and broken dreams."[32] At the end of the trial, the jury found for the plaintiffs and ordered Space Biosphere Ventures to pay them $600,000, but also ordered the plaintiffs to pay the company $40,089 for the damage they had caused.[27]

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==

Edward Perry "Ed" Bass (born September 10, 1945)[4] is an American businessman, financier, philanthropist, and environmentalist who lives in Fort Worth, Texas. He financed the Biosphere 2 project, an artificial closed ecological system, which was built between 1987 and 1991. He is the chairman of Fine Line, an investment and venture-capital management firm in Fort Worth,[5] and president of the board of directors of the Sid W.Richardson Foundation, a philanthropic organization.[6] He was listed as #239 on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans in 2012, with an estimated net worth of $2 billion.[1]

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Early life and education

Bass was born in Fort Worth, Texas to Perry R. (1914–2006)[7] and Nancy Lee (née Muse) Bass (1917-2013),[7][8] the second-oldest of four sons; his brothers are Lee Marshall Bass, Sid Richardson Bass, and Robert Muse Bass. His father, Perry, was an adviser and later partner of his own bachelor uncle, Sid W. Richardson (1891–1959), starting in the 1930s.[9] When Richardson died, he left each of the Bass brothers $2.8 million,[9] and Perry managed the bulk of the family oil fortune, which was initially beset by legal problems.[7][9]

Ed Bass attended Phillips Academy,[10] and graduated from Yale in 1967 with a bachelor's degree in administrative science.[2] He served for a short time in the United States Coast Guard and returned to Yale, studying for a master's degree in architecture, which he did not complete.[10] All four brothers attended Yale, from which their father had also graduated in 1937.[7][10]

Early projects

After leaving Yale, Bass "set out to explore the world".[11] He moved to New Mexico and spent some time with "an unusual counterculture group at Synergia Ranch", run by John P. Allen.[12] While in New Mexico, Bass built the Llano Compound, a condominium in Santa Fe and began an association with Allen that focused on ecology projects.[12] He later spent money on a hotel in Nepal, a 300,000-acre (1,200 km2) Australian ranch, a Puerto Rican rainforest, and the now-defunct Caravan of Dreams performing arts center in Fort Worth.[11][13]

Biosphere 2

Main article: Biosphere 2

In 1984, Bass and Allen founded the Biosphere 2 project, which Bass funded with an initial commitment of $30 million.[14] The project was part of a 2,500-acre (10 km2) ranch in the Santa Catalina Mountains in Oracle, Arizona, near Tucson.[14][15] The purpose of its 3 acre[14] living space was to be an experiment in "recreating the earth" and as a possible way to settle Mars.[12] The project began with eight people living inside in an attempt to be a self-contained settlement, raising food and recycling air and water.[16] After the environment was sealed in 1991,[15] noxious gases built up, and while some of the 4,000 species thrived, the water and crops failed in 1994.[15]

In April 1994 Bass obtained a court order to "formally oust the key managers of the Biosphere and seize the premises," and he dissolved Space Biospheres Ventures, a partnership, which the Los Angeles Times called a "volatile blend of New Age idealism and corporate sophistication." [17] Bass, "whose family has made several billion dollars on investments in Walt Disney Co." was described as a billionaire who "donated $20 million to Yale University, his alma mater, to study the environment and the ecology."[17] The Biosphere project had in 1992 installed an independent Science Advisory Committee (SAC), chaired by "Thomas E. Lovejoy, a senior official at the Smithsonian Institution," and the members came to be at odds with Bass "on questions of scientific standards," and the science committee was dissolved in February 1993. Around that time Bass attempted to make Stephen K. Bannon,an investment banker in Beverly Hills the interim chief executive officer. [17] The existing management, however, refused admittance to Bannon on the property, according to an affidavit Bass later submitted to a Fort Worth, Texas, court, where he filed his dissolution suit.

In 1995, it was turned into a research facility overseen by Columbia University, which declined to provide funding for continued research after June 2003.[15] In 2007, Bass sold some of the land adjacent to the project, and the building was leased to the University of Arizona.[10] The total cost of the privately funded Biosphere project has been variously reported as $150 million[12] to $200 million.[10][15] The University of Arizona announced a full acquisition of the Biosphere buildings and grounds in June 2011.[18]

Conservation efforts

Bass has funded numerous projects focused on environmental conservation, and has stated that he feels conservation "most effective when approached as an enterprise".[19] His investment in Nepal also included conservation efforts for rhinos and tigers.[19] He has supported and worked with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the New York Botanical Garden, the Jane Goodall Institute, and the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation.[12][20][21] He is currently the vice chairman of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas and is the founder of the ecological nonprofit Philecology Trust, which he created in 1986.[21]

Urban redevelopment

Bass is a long-time supporter of downtown redevelopment, and has been described as a "leader in what is recognized as one of the most successful urban revitalization efforts in America".[21] He and his family began the Sundance Square development in 1982. It combines commercial and residential space in the central business area of Fort Worth, and it received the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce's Spirit of Enterprise award in 2004.[22] He led the development of Bass Performance Hall,[21]financed without public funding,[23] which opened in 1998.

Oak Hill Partners lead investor Robert M. Bass, a longtime associate of President Bush, is also the founder of the Ft. Worth, Texas-based Bass Brothers Enterprises. Oak Hill issued a statement announcing the stations would be jointly managed by a broadcast holding company, Local TV, that was created by Oak Hill for the purpose of purchasing 9 other television stations from The New York Times previously this year.

Conservative ties for the Bass Brothers

Robert Bass, along with his brothers Lee, Ed, and Sid, from a wealthy Texas oil family, all attended Yale University where Ed was a classmate and friend of George W. Bush. The Bass family, through various political action committees, were heavy-hitting contributors to Bush's gubernatorial campaigns in Texas, according to the student watchdog group University of Texas Watch.

Robert Bass is also the founder and chairman of Aerion Corporation, which has been the recipient of several very lucrative DARPA contracts for the development of supersonic laminar flow wing studies, along with research and test flights.

According to Charles Lewis’ The Buying of the President 2000, Thomas Hicks made George W. Bush a millionaire fifteen times over by buying the Texas Rangers from Bush and his Texas partners, while Hicks and his brother Steven also contributed $146,000 to Bush’s gubernatorial campaigns. Steven Hicks is a Bush fundraising "Pioneer," who has raised at least $100,000 for Bush’s presidential race.

According to Lewis, Tom Hicks urged the University of Texas (UT) to move part of its $13 Billion endowment into riskier investments. And in 1995, the Texas Senate confirmed Tom Hicks as a UT regent when George W. was elected Texas governor. Hicks hired lobbyists to push a bill which Bush signed into law, creating the University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO).

As UTIMCO’s first chairman, Hicks began to dole out lucrative contracts to private investment firms to manage portions of the endowment; and many of these firms had ties to both Hicks and George W. Bush.

For example, Kohlberg-Kravis-Roberts joined the Hicks-Muse buyout firm in a $1.5 billion dollar takeover of Regal Cinemas, thus establishing the close presidential fundraiser and movie chain ties which may be affecting the controlled exposure of Moore’s devastating film critique of George W. to his Republican constituency in battleground swing states like Pennsylvania.

Hicks and UTIMCO public endowment money has also been doled out to Maverick Capital Fund, run by Bush presidential "pioneer" Charles Wyly and his brother Sam, who also gave $210,000 to the Bush gubernatorial campaign; but also the Carlyle Group, where George H. W. Bush and leading members of his former presidential administration hold major equity stakes.

Hicks and UTIMCO public money also funded the Bass Brothers Enterprises where Robert and Lee Bass family interests funneled $215,000 to Bush while also helping to finance a drilling contract in Bahrain won by Harken Energy just prior to the first Gulf War.

The Bass brothers sought influence through Harken; and  George W. was involved in a controversial million-dollar insider trading deal as a member of Harken's board of directors, also according to The Buying of the President 2000.