Axios reported on May 25, Republican State Treasurer Stacy Garrity joined a group of 14 other Republican state treasurers threatening to withdraw state funds from banks and financial institutions who do not lend money to coal, oil and natural gas companies as part of decarbonization efforts.

In a May 24 letter to Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, State Treasurer Stacy Garrity and the other treasurers said--

“We are writing today to express our deep concern with recent reports you, and other members of the Biden Administration, are privately pressuring U.S. Banks and financial institutions to refuse to lend to or invest in coal, oil and natural gas companies, as part of a misguided strategy to eliminate the fossil fuel industry in our country.”

“As a collective, we strongly oppose command-and-control economic policies that attempt to bend the free market to the political will of government officials. It is simply antithetical to our nation’s position as a democracy and a capitalist economy for the Executive Branch to bully corporations into curtailing legal activities.”

“We refuse to allow the federal government to pick our critical industries as losers, based purely on President Biden’s own radical political preferences and ideologies.”

“The coal, oil, and natural gas industries in our states are vital to our nation’s economy. These industries provide jobs, health insurance, critical tax revenue, and quality of life to families across our country.

“Therefore, we intend to put banks and financial institutions on notice of our position, as we urge them not to give in to pressure from the Biden Administration to refuse to lend to or invest in coal, oil, and natural gas companies.

“As the chief financial officers of our respective states, we entrust banks and financial institutions with billions of our taxpayers’ dollars. It is only logical that we will give significant weight to the fact that an institution engaged in tactics that will harm the people whose money they are handling before entering into or extending any contract.”

Click Here for a copy of the letter.

[Note: The international movement of financial institutions to decarbonize through their investments started long before the Biden Administration.  Read more here.]

NewsClipa:

Axios: State Treasurers Warn Banks-- Drop Coal And We Drop You

The Guardian: 160 Leading Financial Firms Sign Up To Mark Carney Forum On Low-Carbon Investment

Scientific American: America’s Biggest Banks Promise To Fight Climate Change

The Guardian: G7 Countries Agree To End Support For Coal Production Overseas

AP: International Energy Agency: End New Fossil Fuel Supply Investments

Related Article:

-- International Insurance Firm Swiss Re Group Announces Climate Targets-- Exit Coal Business By 2030, Withdraw From Supporting Oil & Gas Production

[Posted: May 26, 2021] 

5/30/2021