Texas comptroller Glenn Hegar on Wednesday accused ten financial companies, including investing titan BlackRock, and 350 investment funds of taking steps to “boycott energy companies.”

The move could force certain Texas government funds, such as retirement funds for state workers, to sell any shares in these companies. It also places these companies alongside lists of other classes of companies covered under Texas divestment statutes, such as companies with “links to foreign terrorist organizations” and ties with Iran and Sudan.

The list, which grows out of an investigation first announced in March, is an effort to publicly highlight companies that are, in Hegar’s view, advancing agendas that threaten the energy industry in Texas, which is the top oil and natural gas producing state in the country. Texas produced 43% of the total crude oil produced in the United States in 2021 and 25% of its natural gas, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Texas also has 31 petroleum oil refineries representing 32% of the nation’s refining capacity, making it the state with the most refineries and refining capacity of any state in the country.

Hegar said the focus on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) standards in finance had become a proxy for political agenda setting.

“The environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) movement has produced an opaque and perverse system in which some financial companies no longer make decisions in the best interest of their shareholders or their clients, but instead use their financial clout to push a social and political agenda shrouded in secrecy,” said Hegar in a written statement published with the decision.

BlackRock has been both lauded for being both a leader in bringing awareness of the implications of climate change to Wall Street and for not following through on that initial leadership. In May, BlackRock said it would not vote for environmental and social shareholder proposals “that are unduly prescriptive and constraining” on corporate boards.

In response to the announcement from Hegar on Wednesday, BlackRock said it objected to the ruling.

“We disagree with the Comptroller’s opinion. This is not a fact-based judgment. BlackRock does not boycott fossil fuels — investing over $100 billion in Texas energy companies on behalf of our clients proves that,” a BlackRock spokesperson told CNBC in a statement.

The impact of the potential Texas divestment is less of a threat to the financial companies than is the potential precedent of financial investments becoming ever more politically motivated, according to James W. Coleman, a law professor at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/25/texas-sa...ng-energy-.html

Excellent as it follows Florida in taking action.

I also am taking action as I happened to own stock in one of these companies, UBS, and did not realize the magnitude of its wokeness.

I will very soon no longer have ownership in this company.

Go woke, go broke

Quote: EdJames wrote in post #2

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I heard Glenn Beck saying recently that they are considering renaming "ESG" as more and more people learn about it.... and object to it....

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Quote: Isailedaway wrote in post #1

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Texas comptroller Glenn Hegar on Wednesday accused ten financial companies, including investing titan BlackRock, and 350 investment funds of taking steps to “boycott energy companies.”

The move could force certain Texas government funds, such as retirement funds for state workers, to sell any shares in these companies. It also places these companies alongside lists of other classes of companies covered under Texas divestment statutes, such as companies with “links to foreign terrorist organizations” and ties with Iran and Sudan.

The list, which grows out of an investigation first announced in March, is an effort to publicly highlight companies that are, in Hegar’s view, advancing agendas that threaten the energy industry in Texas, which is the top oil and natural gas producing state in the country. Texas produced 43% of the total crude oil produced in the United States in 2021 and 25% of its natural gas, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Texas also has 31 petroleum oil refineries representing 32% of the nation’s refining capacity, making it the state with the most refineries and refining capacity of any state in the country.

Hegar said the focus on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) standards in finance had become a proxy for political agenda setting.

“The environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) movement has produced an opaque and perverse system in which some financial companies no longer make decisions in the best interest of their shareholders or their clients, but instead use their financial clout to push a social and political agenda shrouded in secrecy,” said Hegar in a written statement published with the decision.

BlackRock has been both lauded for being both a leader in bringing awareness of the implications of climate change to Wall Street and for not following through on that initial leadership. In May, BlackRock said it would not vote for environmental and social shareholder proposals “that are unduly prescriptive and constraining” on corporate boards.

In response to the announcement from Hegar on Wednesday, BlackRock said it objected to the ruling.

“We disagree with the Comptroller’s opinion. This is not a fact-based judgment. BlackRock does not boycott fossil fuels — investing over $100 billion in Texas energy companies on behalf of our clients proves that,” a BlackRock spokesperson told CNBC in a statement.

The impact of the potential Texas divestment is less of a threat to the financial companies than is the potential precedent of financial investments becoming ever more politically motivated, according to James W. Coleman, a law professor at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/25/texas-sa...ng-energy-.html

Excellent as it follows Florida in taking action.

I also am taking action as I happened to own stock in one of these companies, UBS, and did not realize the magnitude of its wokeness.

I will very soon no longer have ownership in this company.

Go woke, go broke

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