Emily Cunningham

Ok, real talk. I was a fan of Beto O’Rourke, swooned over his speeches, until learning: 1. He is the #2 recipient of oil/gas industry campaign cash in the entire Congress 2. His actual voting record, which boosted the fossil fuel industry and Trump’s immigration policy

Fossil fuel money = blood money, and accepting it is morally reprehensible. This is an industry hell bent on stealing our best possible futures. Climate change is an urgent, existential crisis. @davidsirota has the contribution data: https://twitter.com/davidsirota/status/1069264575202189313 …

That Beto is only behind Ted fucking Cruz (!!) as top recipient of oil/gas industry contributions should give everyone pause.

Some nuance to my tweet about oil/gas "industry" contributions to Beto's campaign. Beto received contributions from individuals in this industry, not PAC's, but as @alexkotch explains, "there’s a lot more overlap than most people realize." https://readsludge.com/2018/12/10/beto-orourke-oil-and-gas-contributions-2018/ …

“People would have no problem calling PAC money to candidates from a specific industry ‘industry money,’ but PAC money comes from people. Ppl control the PAC & they donate directly to it, & so what difference, in some ways, does it make whether it comes from CEO versus the PAC?"

Of the $429,759 Beto received from 2,724 donors who work in the oil and gas industry, @alexkotch reports 92 donations were $1,000 or more, adding up to $173,039, or 40.3% of the total. 33 were maximum donations of $2,700, adding up to $96,400, or 22.4% of the total.

Another stat from @alexkotch: Donors included 24 executives, who gave a combined total of $35,125.