Texas Gov. George W. Bush (R) raked in 79 percent of the money donated to presidential candidates by oil, auto, and electric power interests in the first nine months of this year, according to a report released yesterday. Bush received $521,714 of $658,389 given to presidential hopefuls by employees of companies that belong to three trade organizations — the American Petroleum Institute, the Alliance of Auto Manufacturers, and the Edison Electric Institute. Vice Pres. Al Gore came in second, at $56,025. The report was published by the New Hampshire Citizens Alliance and the Iowa Citizen Action Network Education Foundation, two groups seeking campaign finance reform. Steve Blackledge of the New Hampshire Public Interest Research Group suggested that the industries were giving heavily to Bush in hopes that, if elected, he would resist tougher pollution standards being proposed by the EPA.
