By Alex Kotch



When candidates run for president, they receive a slew of donations from across the business world, from sectors such as finance, insurance and real estate, health, communications and electronics, labor, and energy and natural resources. Some of these donations have come under scrutiny recently, particularly those from Wall Street and those from the fossil fuel industry.



Disturbed by current elected officials’ inaction on climate change at least in part due to the powerful influence the fossil fuel industry has on policy, environmentalists and concerned citizens are pushing the 2016 presidential candidates to reject campaign contributions from industry political action committees (PACs) and people who work in the industry.



Last July, The Nation and 350 Action called on the candidates to sign their pledge to refuse donations from oil, gas or coal companies; however, direct federal contributions from companies are illegal. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), who recently dropped out of the presidential contest, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein have signed the pledge.



In December, Greenpeace and 19 other organizations asked the candidates to sign on to their Pledge to Fix Democracy, a pledge to defend voting rights, overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission decision, and to refuse “money from fossil fuel interests.” These interests, as defined by Greenpeace, mean fossil fuel company PACs, registered lobbyists that work on behalf of such a company, or top executives. Only Sen. Sanders has signed this pledge.



A look into the financial support that the fossil fuel industry has given presidential contenders may shed light on their resistance to these anti-fossil fuel pledges.

Millions of dollars tied to the fossil fuel industry in the form of campaign contributions, bundled campaign donations by lobbyists, donations to super PACs, and details in the candidate’s financial disclosures link many of these candidates to oil, gas, and coal mining companies.



In this presidential election alone, oil, gas and coal mining company PACs and employees have given over $1.8 million directly to the campaigns of the eight remaining Democratic and Republican candidates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.



The top beneficiaries of the fossil fuel industry’s largesse this year are GOP Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), former Republican governor of Florida Jeb Bush, former Secretary of State and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, and GOP Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). Still more, including GOP governor of Ohio John Kasich and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, a Republican candidate who dropped out last week, have received considerable campaign contributions in past elections tied to oil, gas and coal mining companies.







Including previous federal and state elections, over $4.9 million has flowed directly into the campaigns of the current presidential candidates from oil, gas, and coal mining company PACs and employees.









Let’s dig into the candidates’ financial ties to the fossil fuel industry.



TED CRUZ

GOP

PAC

PAC

II

III

PAC

GP

XL

HILLARY CLINTON

BP

PAC

XL

JEB BUSH

H.W.

PAC

PAC

PAC

PAC

QEP

XL

MARCO RUBIO

GOP

U.S.

PAC

PAC

PAC

XL

JOHN KASICH

PAC

PAC

GOP

THE REST OF THE PACK

PAC

U.S.

PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS WHO RECENTLY DROPPED OUT

CEO

PAC

U.S.

BP

LP

PAC

PAC

PAC

ENERGY INTERESTS NOT THE BIGGEST SPENDERS

WHAT ’S NEXT ?

GOP