Louisiana Treasurer John Schroder announced Wednesday that he’s yanking all of his state’s investments from heavyweight asset manager BlackRock Inc, saying the company’s push for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) policies is hurting the state’s energy-dependent economy. Shroder wrote in a letter Wednesday to BlackRock Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink:
Your blatantly anti-fossil fuel policies would destroy Louisiana’s economy. Therefore, Louisiana Treasury will liquidate all BlackRock investments by the end of 2022. To date we have divested $560 million. We are strategically divesting over a period of time so state money is not lost to the detriment of our citizens. Once complete, this divestment will reflect $794 million no longer entangled in BlackRock money market funds, mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) holdings.
Many critics think that corporations should not be involved in pushing social and political movements, and they definitely should not be trying to kill our domestic energy supply:
Shroder continued:
This divestment is necessary to protect Louisiana from actions and policies that would actively seek to hamstring our fossil fuel sector. In my opinion, your support of ESG investing is inconsistent with the best economic interests and values of Louisiana. I cannot support an institution that would deny our state the benefit of one of its most robust assets. Simply put, we cannot be party to the crippling of our own economy.
This isn’t the first time BlackRock has heard from states–in August, 19 attorneys general signed a letter saying “BlackRock appears to use the hard-earned money of our states’ citizens to circumvent the best possible return on investment, as well as their vote.”
BlackRock punishes companies that don’t meet its climate goals; however, critics claim that they do not apply the same rules to all countries equally. Chinese companies often get a pass, for instance. In addition, BlackRock appears to have shocking conflicts of interest:
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry determined the company may have used its proxy voting rights as Exxon Mobil’s second-largest shareholder to force them to eliminate oil production. But here’s the catch: They weren’t transparent about the relinquished Exxon-owned oil fields soon being acquired by PetroChina–Asia’s largest producer of fossil fuels that BlackRock wants to phase out in the U.S. This move is not only a conflict of interest but an inconsistent application of their ESG criteria in investments. Par for the course for ESG virtue signalers.
Former Attorney General Bill Barr teamed up with Yale Law professor Jed Rubenfeld in August to pen a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. They conclude:
The Big Three (BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street) use their vast economic clout to push a social and political agenda that many Americans don’t support and never voted for. It’s a usurpation of their political rights. But if Mr. Landry and Mr. Rokita are correct, it’s also a legally actionable violation of fiduciary duty–by the Big Three, and by public pension fund trustees who continue to invest with them.
Woke corporations telling us how to lead our lives have become a bane of modern existence. However, it looks as if their actions are more than unseemly–in some cases, they’re against the law. Good for the states that are finally standing up to them.