Beto O’Rourke promises not to take fossil fuel money after heavy criticism on climate change issue

During his 2018 Senate run, Mr O'Rourke was the second biggest recipient of money from the industry. He has now put forth one of the most robust climate change plans in the 2020 field

Stand back, fossil fuel company executives, Beto O’Rourke doesn’t want your money anymore.

The Democratic presidential candidate has announced in a video that he signed the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge, promising not to take donations of $200 or more from executives, lobbyists or PACs associated with oil and gas companies — and will now begin sending checks back to donors who match that criteria.

In his video, Mr O’Rourke said that he decided to sign the pledge “in large part because I was asked to” on the campaign trail by young people and activists.

“We don’t take PAC money or accept help from corporations, lobbyists, and special interests,” Mr O'Rourke said in a statement. “But given the enormity of climate change, the greatest threat we face, we want to go further and be clear about where we stand as we all come together to build the largest grassroots campaign this country has ever seen.”

Mr O’Rourke joined the likes of several of his democratic competitors in signing the pledge, including Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Jay Inslee, and Kirsten Gillibrand.

The pledge comes after the former Texas congressman became the target of considerable criticism for accepting fossil fuel money during his Senate run last year in which he nearly won as a Democrat in a state that hasn’t gone blue in decades.

In that race, Mr O’Rourke was the second biggest recipient of donations form the oil and gas industry, after his Republican opponent, senator Ted Cruz, according to the Centre for Responsive Politics. Both men were running in a state with a large oil and gas presence.

Since that controversy, Mr O’Rourke has come out forcefully on the 2020 campaign trail in support of policies to combat climate change, and has called for a $5 trillion investment ov the next decade to quickly cut down on American greenhouse gas emissions.