Red States push back against woke banks

 Fox Business:

Republican state officials are readying plans to punish woke banks which push anti-fossil fuel policies and adhere to so-called environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards.

West Virginia announced last week it would bar five major financial institutions, including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, from entering into banking contracts with the state treasurer's office or any state agency. Each of the five corporations had committed to policies limiting commercial engagement with the fossil fuel industry, which paid a whopping $769 million in taxes to West Virginia's state government.

"We're not going to pay for our own destruction, we're not going to subsidize that," West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore told FOX Business during an interview. "They have weaponized our tax dollars against the very people and industry that have generated them to begin with. That is why we're pushing back against this ESG movement."

He noted that U.S. Bancorp backed off its prohibition of fossil fuel lending and was, as a result, kept off the state's restricted list of financial institutions.


Moore's action, a first-of-its-kind response to major banks' ESG push, is likely to be the start of many similar actions nationwide. At least 15 Republican-led states, which collectively manage tens of billions of dollars in public funds, have proposed laws or policies that would similarly punish anti-fossil fuel banks over the last year, according to a FOX Business analysis.
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A dozen state financial officers contacted by FOX Business applauded West Virginia's restriction of banks and confirmed they were crafting their own response to "woke banks."

"The agency is continuing to work through the information we have received back from the companies we contacted for more information as well as finalizing our process for identifying suitable candidates for the Texas list," a spokesperson for Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar said in an email.

Hegar is assembling a list like West Virginia's in accordance with a bill the Texas legislature passed last year. As part of the effort, Hegar sent letters to 19 financial institutions in March asking for clarification on their fossil fuel investment policies.

In addition to Texas, state financial officers in Kentucky, Oklahoma, Florida, South Carolina, Arizona, Louisiana, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Arkansas and North Dakota said they would take or consider action against banks that boycott energy companies. Kentucky and Oklahoma, like Texas, are compiling lists as required by recently passed state laws.

"These industries are economically integral to Kentucky," a spokesperson for Kentucky State Treasurer Allison Ball told FOX Business. "They provide jobs for Kentuckians, fuel commutes and the supply chain, and keep the lights on. We want to support these signature industries."
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ESG is an unrealistic concept that would do more harm to the US economy than pollution does.