Beto O’Rourke Refuses to Sign ‘No Fossil Fuel Money’ Pledge

Beto O’Rourke refused to commit to signing the ‘No Fossil Fuel Money’ Pledge at a campaign stop in Virginia on Tuesday. O’Rourke has faced questions from liberal activists over contributions his past campaigns have received from the oil & gas industry.

According to The Hill, O’Rourke was asked by members of the Sunrise Movement to sign a copy of the pledge. He refused.

O’Rourke’s past with oil & gas money is well-documented amongst the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. According to an analysis, O’Rourke raised the second most amount of money from individuals in the oil & gas industry of any federal candidate in the 2018 cycle. As part of that analysis, it was revealed that O’Rourke violated a previous ‘No Fossil Fuel Money’ pledge by not returning over twenty-five contributions over $200 from oil & gas executives. The report opened up a fissure between the Democratic establishment and the progressive movement.

Adding to the cozy relationship between O’Rourke and the oil & gas industry is a Buzzfeed Report that shows he has substantially increased his personal wealth as a result of fossil fuel investments:

“Beto O’Rourke and his wife, Amy, made more than $1 million from a family investment company that bought and sold stocks in companies like Exxon Mobil, Phillip Morris, and Transocean, the company behind the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, during the first two years that O’Rourke was in Congress.”

His refusal to sign a pledge this cycle acknowledges his past with the industry and signals that it is still a key part of his future as a candidate for the nomination. That will certainly not sit well with progressive activists and officials who have embraced the ‘Green New Deal’ and similar liberal environmental positions.