Speaking directly to the camera, Paul Osborne of Raven says “My family’s been in Southwest Virginia since the mid 1800s. My grandfather would roll over in his grave if he saw what was going on today with the energy companies.”
“Ken Cuccinelli is helping the energy companies take all that they can take from the landowners,” he says. “He’s received over $100,000 for his campaign.”
“If I can’t trust him now as the attorney general, how am I going to trust him as a governor?”
In 2012, Koch Industries contributed more than $2 million, $800,000 from Devon Energy, and more than $639,000 from CONSOL Energy. According to a Center for Public Integrity investigation, oil and gas interests used the RGA to as a conduit for millions in donations in 2010, allowing them to circumvent campaign finance laws and invest heavily in electing candidates who supported fracking and other drilling expansion.
More directly, Cuccinelli accepted about $200,000 from energy companies and executives. These included:
- Murray Energy Corporation, $50,000
- CONSOL Energy Inc., $25,000
- Dominion Political Action Committee (Dominion Resources, Inc.), $25,000
- Marvin Gilliam (retired VP of Cumberland Resources Corp.), $25,000
- Koch Industries Inc., $25,000
- American Electric Power Committee for Responsible Government (American Electric Power), $10,000
- William B. Holtzman (president and owner of Holtzman Oil), $10,000
- Range Resources Corporation, $10,000
- Thomas Farrell (CEO of Dominion Resources, Inc.), $5,000
- Michael G. Morris (President and CEO of American Electric Power), $5,000
- Baxter F. Phillips Jr. (an executive with Alpha Natural Resources, Inc.), $5,000
- Clyde E. Stacy (an executive with Pioneer Group/Rapoca Energy.), $5,000
Between these donations and the RGA’s funds, about half of Cuccinelli’s contributions over the reporting period were tied to oil, gas, and coal.
