Mr. Moore, the state treasurer of West Virginia, coordinated a letter in November from 16 state treasurers and Controllers sent to banks across the country, threatening “collective action in response to the ongoing and growing economic boycott of US financial institutions. ”
“We sincerely hope that there will be no financial institutions that are not qualified to provide banking services to our states,” the letter read.
And in January, Mr. Moore withdraw about 20 million dollars from the fund managed by BlackRock because the company has encouraged other companies to reduce emissions. BlackRock still manages several billion for the West Virginia state pension system. “We are divesting from BlackRock because they are divesting from us,” Mr. Moore said in an interview.
On the private side, elected officials in the conservative states are even more blunt.
Gary Howell, the West Virginia state representative who sponsored a bill to blacklist companies that divest from fossil fuels, wrote in a Feb. 8 email to Mr. Moore. The notice was obtained by Documented, a corporate oversight group, as required by the Freedom of Information Act. “They are silent or on the list, that is my goal,” he wrote.
Mr Howell did not respond to a request for comment.
Idaho’s top elected officials, including the governor and the entire congressional delegation, sent a letter last week to the chief executive officer of S&P Global, the rating agency, objected to the company’s use of ESG indexes in its state rankings. “The state of Idaho cannot but conclude that the S&P has adopted a politicized rating system,” wrote Republicans. Officials in other states, including Utah, have sent similar letters.
Curtis Loftis, the state treasurer of South Carolina, emailed senior JPMorgan executives on September 1 and warned banks to “stay away from political culture wars and especially abstain from small things.” pick up, “let’s cancel culture”.
BlackRock’s Fink has emerged as a prime target for conservatives. Last June, BlackRock joined Vanguard and State Street to help an activist hedge fund, Engine #1, win three seats on Exxon’s board with the goal of boosting the energy giant. reduction in carbon emissions.
