This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
Donald Trump was continuing to ask fossil-fuel executives to fund his presidential campaign on Wednesday, despite scrutiny of his relationship with the industry.
The former president attended a fundraising luncheon at Houston’s Post Oak hotel hosted by three Big Oil executives.
The invitation-only meeting comes a day after the defense rested its case in Trump’s criminal hush-money trial, and a week after Houston was battered by deadly storms. The climate crisis, caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels, has created the conditions for more frequent and severe rainfall and flooding, including in Texas.
“Houstonians are staring at Trump in disbelief as he flies in to beg Big Oil for funds just days after the city’s climate disaster,” said Alex Glass, communications director at the climate advocacy organization Climate Power, and a former Houston resident.
Dharna Noor was the Boston Globe’s climate producer. Prior to joining the Boston Globe’s climate team, Dharna worked as a staff writer at Earther, Gizmodo’s climate vertical, where she also co-produced a season of the podcast Drilled on the fossil fuel industry’s influence on education. Before that, she led the climate team at the Real News Network. Her writing has also appeared in publications including In These Times, Jacobin Magazine, and Truthout, and was also featured in a 2021 book from The New Press called The World We Need. She has been interviewed on podcasts and radio programs such as the Times Radio, Vox’s Tell Me More, the Insurgents, and NPR’s Living on Earth. She lives in Baltimore.
