Anti-fossil fuel activist Manny Rutinel seeks to represent a district responsible for 4 percent of all US crude oil output
Colorado Democrat Manny Rutinel and dozens of other protesters stormed the Yale Bowl during halftime at a Yale-Harvard football game in November 2019 to demand the schools divest from fossil fuels. Rutinel and his fellow protesters accused the universities of being “complicit in climate injustice” as they chanted “hey hey, ho ho, fossil fuels have got to go,” delaying the game by nearly an hour.
Just six years later, Rutinel is now leading a crowded field of Democrats in the race for Colorado’s Eighth Congressional District, home to an expansive oil and natural gas field that makes Colorado the fourth-largest oil-producing state in the country.
Rutinel’s anti-fossil fuel activism as a Yale Law School student could come back to haunt him if he wins the primary to take on Republican incumbent Rep. Gabe Evans, who won his 2024 election by fewer than 2,500 votes. The district includes Weld County, a conservative stronghold that’s home to much of the Denver-Julesburg Basin, a behemoth shale formation that accounts for about 4 percent of all U.S. crude oil output and fuels two Denver-area petroleum refineries that, together, process 103,000 barrels of crude oil per day, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Rutinel, a state representative since 2023, has momentum on his side to win the Democratic nomination for the seat during the upcoming primary in June. He reported in late February raising over $3 million for his campaign, and he’s earned the endorsement of Rep. Robert Garcia (D., Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and a strong supporter of the Green New Deal who has campaigned in favor of transitioning away from fossil fuels.
Rutinel is no stranger to receiving lavish praise from the far-left flanks of the Democratic Party. His protest at the Yale Bowl in 2019 received national media coverage and garnered support from Sens. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), both of whom praised the protesters for standing “up for justice” and taking “bold action” against the existential threat of climate change.
Rutinel was charged with disorderly conduct for taking part in the protest, which was organized by the Yale Endowment Justice Collective, a student organization that has called on Yale to divest from Israel.
“I think we’re in the midst of a climate crisis and Yale is sitting on their hands and failing to act on the biggest issue of our time,” Rutinel told the New Haven Register, adding that he believed his actions would force Yale’s hand to divest from fossil fuels.
His prediction hasn’t come to pass. The Yale Board of Trustees voted in 2021 to enact a new framework of standards for the university’s investments in companies producing fossil fuels, a measure that stopped far short of a complete divestment from the industry.
The criminal charges against Rutinel, whose legal first name is Tonty, were dropped after he completed community service for the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, a group that helps former prisoners register to vote.
Rutinel’s anti-fossil fuel activism is hardly the only entry on his activism résumé that could rankle voters in his swing district, which, in addition to its reliance on fossil fuels, is also heavily dependent on the animal agriculture industry.
As Law, Ethics & Animals Program fellow at Yale Law School, Rutinel railed against the “horrific” and “exploitive [sic]” meat industry and petitioned the fried chicken fast food chain Popeyes to offer plant-based options. After graduating, he formed the nonprofit organization Climate Refarm, which pushed schools to transition to plant-based meals and advocated for tax increases on meat, dairy, and eggs, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
With his eyes now firmly set on Colorado’s Eighth Congressional District, Rutinel is reframing his prior vegan activism. His campaign website touts his experience working at a McDonald’s when he was in high school, and he told the Colorado Sun that he was only criticizing the meat industry’s “bad apples” during his years as a vegan activist. Rutinel now says he has the backs of Colorado ranchers, calling them “the envy of the globe.”
Rutinel’s campaign did not return a request for comment.