Beto blew it—-violated pledge by taking oil and gas campaign money

Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke, the man who has become the darling of Democrats nationally and is even on some presidential possibilities list has been removed from a list of politicians who pledged not to take oil and gas money.

It’s because he really did take campaign cash from oil and gas executives. In his campaigning against Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, O’Rourke signed his name onto a “No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge” last April. He was among a growing number of Democrats who are against the fossil fuel industry.

Under the stipulations of the pledge, signers agree to “not knowingly accept any contributions over $200 from the PACs, executives, or front groups of fossil fuel companies — companies whose primary business is the extraction, processing, distribution, or sale of oil, gas, or coal.”

However one political investigative site, Sludge, found O’Rourke had received a total of $430,000 from executives in the oil and gas sector. And there was no sign or clue that he had returned the 29 different “large donations” that consisted of contributions of $200 or more from fossil fuel executives. The large campaign contributions were a direct violation of the pledge.

 

In the wake of the report, Oil Change USA, the nonprofit organization behind the “No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge,” removed O’Rourke’s name from its list.