Tag: Beto O’Rourke

  • Oil Change U.S. Reaction to Beto O’Rourke Signing the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    May 1, 2019

    Contact:
    David Turnbull, david [at] priceofoil.org
    Collin Rees, collin [at] priceofoil.org

    Oil Change U.S. reaction to Beto O’Rourke signing the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge

    Today, former U.S. Representative and current presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke became the latest signatory of the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge. In response, David Turnbull, Strategic Communications Director of Oil Change U.S., one of the organizations in the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge coalition, released the following statement:

    “Beto’s signing of the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge is the latest indication that the terms of political debate on climate change have fundamentally shifted. With the climate crisis now the top issue of concern for Democratic voters, the question to candidates is no longer simply ‘Do you believe climate change exists?’ but ‘How brave will you be in standing up to the fossil fuel industry and proposing solutions at the scale required?’

    “Beto’s signing of the pledge after weeks of resistance is also a testament to the power of the grassroots climate movement and the doggedness of those concerned about our climate crisis. Without pressure, we know that today’s announcement may not have come.

    “While signing the pledge doesn’t prove by itself that any candidate is a true climate leader, it’s a critical indication that they may be willing to take on the out-of-control fossil fuel industry that’s threatening our communities and climate every day. We absolutely welcome Beto joining eleven other major candidates in signing this pledge to resist the influence of the fossil fuel industry, and look forward to a rigorous debate in the Democratic field moving forward on solutions that match the scale of the problem.

    “Game on.”

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    Notes to Editors:

    – See the full list of presidential candidate pledge signers here: http://nofossilfuelmoney.org/presidential-signers/

    – CNN polling this week showed climate change as the top issue of Democratic voters. See: http://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2019/images/04/29/rel6a.-.2020.democrats.pdf

    – O’Rourke’s climate position can be found here: https://betoorourke.com/climate-change/

     

    PAID FOR BY OIL CHANGE U.S., WWW.OILCHANGEUS.ORG, NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE, CANDIDATE’S AUTHORIZED POLITICAL COMMITTEE, OR CANDIDATE’S AGENTS.

  • Oil Change U.S. Response to Beto O’Rourke’s climate platform

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    April 29, 2019

    CONTACT:
    David Turnbull, david [at] priceofoil.org

    Oil Change U.S. Response to Beto O’Rourke’s climate platform

    This morning, presidential contender Beto O’Rourke released his plan to combat climate change, committing to ban new fossil fuel leases on public lands, end billions in fossil fuel subsidies, and account for the full climate and community costs in federal permitting decisions. In response, David Turnbull, Strategic Communications Director at Oil Change U.S., issued the following statement:

    “Given his voting record and continued resistance to signing the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge, we were pleasantly surprised to see Beto’s plan released today. It seems to be moving in the right direction when it comes to actions on the scale necessary to tackle our climate crisis. But as ever the devil is in the details. We’re happy to see a commitment to end tens of billions of dollars in fossil fuel subsidies, stop leasing of fossil fuel development on federal lands, and accounting for the full climate and community costs in federal permitting decisions.

    “But we need to hear more – we know that any new fossil fuel infrastructure will have an untenable impact on our efforts to address the climate crisis, so we expect the next President to be unwavering in saying no to new dirty pipelines, export terminals and other infrastructure our climate and communities can’t afford.

    “Beto’s rhetoric in resisting the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge has suggested he’s still expecting the fossil fuel industry to have a seat at the table on climate policy decisions, but after decades of Big Oil blocking progress and continuing to push for continued dangerous extraction, we need leaders who are willing to stand up to the industry rather than cater to them. We hope this plan from Beto is an indication that he’s beginning to understand that, and that he will show that even further by signing the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge as well.”

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    Notes to Editors:

    – O’Rourke’s climate position can be found here: https://betoorourke.com/climate-change/

    – Research by Oil Change International has found that without government action to limit fossil fuel production, including on public lands, the U.S. is poised for a massive expansion of drilling and carbon pollution: http://priceofoil.org/2019/01/16/report-drilling-towards-disaster/

     

    PAID FOR BY OIL CHANGE U.S., WWW.OILCHANGEUS.ORG, NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE, CANDIDATE’S AUTHORIZED POLITICAL COMMITTEE, OR CANDIDATE’S AGENTS.