"Climate Advocate" RFK Jr. Earns Thousands From Oil And Gas Company

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who built his public profile as an environmental activist and crusader against polluters, earned tens of thousands of dollars from an oil and gas rights leasing company.

The independent presidential candidate reported the earnings on his financial disclosure form filed last June from Arctic Royalty Limited Partnership, which leases land for oil and gas extraction in Oklahoma, Texas and other states.

Arctic Royalty, which is part of a portfolio of investments from Kennedy’s family trust accounts, leases land to multiple companies that have been fined for pollution and regulatory infractions, as well as to the chemical subsidiary of the company that polluted East Palestine, Ohio, in the trail derailment last year.

Kennedy earned between $17,759 and $29,257 from Jan. 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023, from Arctic Royalty — which is a significant portion of the possible earnings from his three family trust accounts. Those accounts produced an income between about $36,000 and $97,000, according to Kennedy’s form. Arctic Royalty has been registered as a business entity in numerous states since 1985.

Overall, however, his Arctic Royalty earnings are a relatively small fraction of his overall income, which he reported at about $9 million.When POLITICO asked about his earnings, Kennedy said he sold most of his stake in Arctic Royalty last December after his candidate financial disclosure form became public. He did not share documentation confirming the sale.“I sold all my stake in this company in December. I still indirectly own a very small interest in Arctic Royalty through my brother David’s estate. It generates approximately $1,000 per year. I own 1/10 of that estate. Because other family members are also owners, I have no power to sell off this investment,” he said in a statement.On the campaign trail, Kennedy has centered his career as an environmental activist and anti-pollution litigator. He also criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the East Palestine cleanup in a campaign video, saying if he was president that “everybody involved, the corporate officials and the regulatory officials, would be held accountable, both criminally and civilly.”