In article <t15o3p$2qs66$107@news.freedyn.de>
<governor.swill@gmail.com> wrote:
>

On Thursday, West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore announced
the first Restricted Financial Institution List. Moore named
five financial institutions on the list � BlackRock Inc.,
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley,
and Wells Fargo & Co. � because the state believes that they are
�engaged in boycotts of fossil fuel companies.�

In January, state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 262, which
authorizes the state treasurer to create a list of banks that
the state will not do business with if those banks pursue anti-
fossil fuel policies.

The list only disallows state contracts with the banks. They are
still able to do business in the state.

�As Treasurer, I have a duty to act in the best interests of the
State�s Treasury and our people when choosing financial services
for West Virginia,� Moore said in a statement. �Any institution
with policies aimed at weakening our energy industries, tax base
and job market has a clear conflict of interest in handling
taxpayer dollars.�

The list had initially included six institutions, but U.S.
Bancorp was removed from the list after they eliminated policies
against financing coal mining, coal power, and pipeline
construction from their Environmental and Social Risk Policy.

Any bank can be removed from the list if it �demonstrates that
it has ceased all activity that boycotts energy companies.�

�Each financial institution placed on the Restricted Financial
Institution List today has published written environmental or
social policies categorically limiting commercial relations with
energy companies engaged in certain coal mining, extraction or
utilization activities, rather than considering the financial or
risk profile for each company,� Moore said. �These policies
explicitly limit commercial engagement with an entire energy
sector based on subjective environmental and social policies.�

A spokesperson for JPMorgan told Reuters that Moore and the list
were �disconnected from the facts.�

West Virginia�s new policy would seem to be a salvo against
banks who insist on doing business according to an institution�s
environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) score,
which ostensibly measures risks associated with an
organization�s commitment to left-wing environmental, social,
and governance policies.

ESG scores can be thought of as a good way for banks to measure
how well an institution, a state, or a country is adapting to
measures that global elites deem essential to combat climate
change, create LGBTQ-friendly policies, and maintain
�sustainable� farming practices.

For example, the governments of Sri Lanka and the Netherlands
have excellent ESG scores, but both nations are now currently in
crisis over inflation, civil unrest, and (in the case of Sri
Lanka) food shortages.

�While the �Environmental, Social and Governance� or �ESG�
movement might be politically popular in California or New York,
financial institutions need to understand their practices are
hurting people across West Virginia,� Treasurer Moore said. �I
simply cannot stand by and allow financial institutions working
against West Virginia�s critical industries to profit off the
very funds their policies attempt to diminish.�

Moore was more blunt on Twitter:

�This is how we beat ESG. We will not sit by and let banks
boycott the lifeblood of our state. Banks on the Restricted
Financial Institutions will be banned from banking contracts
with the state of West Virginia,� Moore wrote. �Props to US Bank
for changing their policies � keep fighting!�

Killing coal � undoubtedly a goal of the climate change movement
� could, essentially, kill West Virginia as well. A 2019 report
from the West Virginia University College of Business and
Economics shows that the coal industry generated $13.9 billion
in total economic activity in the state and supports nearly
33,000 jobs.

West Virginia could collapse without its coal industry � and
that�s why the state won�t do business with banks that are
actively working for that collapse to occur.

https://thenewamerican.com/west-virginia-wont-contract-with-five-
financial-institutions-over-anti-fossil-fuel-policies/