States Move to Divest From BlackRock Over Its ‘Woke’ Investment Policies

Louisiana this week joined the growing list of states kicking the BlackRock investment management company to the curb because of its aggressive efforts to force companies to adopt progressive policies under the guise of so-called environmental, social and corporate governance, known as ESG, guidelines.In a letter to BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink, the treasurer of Louisiana, John Schroder, said BlackRock’s push for “sustainable investing” is detrimental to the fossil fuel companies that form the backbone of the state’s economy. He said $560 million has been withdrawn from BlackRock already and that a total of $794 million will be removed by year’s end.“This divestment is necessary to protect Louisiana from mandates BlackRock has called for that would cripple our critical energy sector,” said Mr. Schroder. “I refuse to spend a penny of Treasury funds with a company that will take food off tables, money out of pockets, and jobs away from hardworking Louisianans.”Mr. Schroder said BlackRock’s efforts to push companies to adopt “net zero” emissions goals in the name of combating climate change — as well as its demands for race-based policies in the name of diversity, equity and inclusion — violate state laws on fiduciary duties that require investment decisions involving public money to consider financial returns instead of political or social aims.“A focus on political or social goals or placing those goals above the duty to enhance investors’ returns is unacceptable under Louisiana law,” Mr. Schroder said. “They are pushing their agendas contrary to the best interests of the people whose money they are using.”BlackRock, the nation’s largest public asset manager with $10 trillion under its control at the start of 2022, has in recent years established itself at the forefront of the so-called ESG investing movement that seeks to impose what Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, calls “woke” capitalism on publicly traded companies. It is targeting oil companies for their carbon emissions, calling on shareholders to divest from firearms manufacturers and gun retailers, and badgering companies about the gender and racial makeup of their boards of directors.Louisiana ranks No. 2 among American states for oil production and No. 3 for natural gas if offshore drilling is included in the tally. The energy industry is the largest component, at 8.1 percent, of the state’s total gross domestic product.In recent months, several states have taken aim at the Wall Street behemoth over its activism. In August, Texas cited the company as one of several taking steps to “boycott energy companies” in an effort to score political points. The same month, West Virginia said it would bar several big Wall Street banks, including BlackRock, from doing business in the state because of their hostility to the coal industry.In all, at least 19 GOP-led states across the country with tens of billions of dollars in pension fund and other public assets have proposed similar measures aimed at reining in the BlackRock-led initiatives, which they claim are an effort to impose unpopular and costly progressive policies on public companies as a proxy for winning over voters via the democratic process.“Corporate power has increasingly been utilized to impose an ideological agenda on the American people through the perversion of financial investment priorities under the euphemistic banners of environmental, social, and corporate governance and diversity, inclusion, and equity,” Mr. DeSantis said when he directed state officials to set aside ESG goals in favor of pure profit motives.“The tax dollars and proxy votes of the people of Florida will no longer be commandeered by Wall Street financial firms and used to implement policies through the board room that Floridians reject at the ballot box.”In response, BlackRock’s head of external affairs, Dalia Blass, denied that the company is putting politics over profit in its investment decisions. Many of the firm’s clients, she said, are on board with the investment guidelines being pursued by the company.“Governments representing over 90 percent of global GDP have committed to move to net-zero in the coming decades,” she said in reference to the company’s climate-related initiatives. “We believe investors and companies that take a forward-looking position with respect to climate risk and its implications for the energy transition will generate better long-term financial outcomes.”The chief executive of the State Financial Officers Foundation, Derrick Kreifels, however, lauded the move by Louisiana, Utah, Arkansas, and other states to divest themselves from BlackRock. He said more such moves are likely in the near future.“BlackRock and other investment giants have weaponized ESG, pushing climate and social policy with no regard for the harm they are causing to everyday Americans and calling it an investment strategy,” Mr. Kreifels said. “Their reckless agenda is robbing Americans of their retirement dollars and driving up the costs of everyday goods like groceries, gas, and energy.”

States Move to Divest From BlackRock Over Its ‘Woke’ Investment Policies

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