On Wednesday, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar sent letters to 19 financial institutions questioning whether or not those companies are in compliance with SB 13, a law that bars Texas agencies from investing in financial companies that refuse to do business with the fossil-fuel industry. According to that legislation, the Comptroller is tasked with annually updating a list of financial companies who remain loyal to the oil and gas industry and pulling pensions and other funds from those who might do the right thing. Hegar’s letters went out to Abrdn PLC, BlackRock, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse Group AG, Danske Bank A/S, HSBC Holdings PLC, Invesco Ltd., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Jupiter Fund Management PLC, Man Group PLC, NatWest Group PLC, Nordea Bank Abp, Rathbones Group PLC, Schroders PLC, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc., Svenska Handelsbanken AB, Swedbank AB, UBS Group AG and Wells Fargo & Co. He’s prepared to send letters to 100 other publicly traded investment companies in the days to come. All companies have 60 days to respond, lest they be relegated to the “State of Texas’ list of financial companies that boycott energy companies.”
“We know some of these companies hold investments in oil and gas today, but what about the future? Are they selling the hope of a ‘green’ tomorrow with promises to divest or reduce their fossil fuel exposure?” Hegar said in a press release. “Our research thus far shows that some companies are telling us and other energy-producing states one thing, and then turning around and telling their liberal clients in other states another thing. On one hand, they push net-zero and other environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies, and use their influence and the dollars under their management to limit access to capital for Texas oil and gas firms. Then these same firms tell Texas and other energy states that they’re committed to the fossil fuel sector. It is time for these companies to come clean, stop the big lie and realize they can’t have it both ways.”
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar's letters to 19 financial companies about SB 13 compliance by Daily Kos on Scribd
Hegar is right, to a certain extent: Companies can’t be talking out of both sides of their mouths if they aim to make a meaningful difference in the fight against climate change. So threatened by financial companies standing in the way of his beloved oil and gas sector making money that Hegar is requesting the companies detail whether their environmental standards are more stringent than state and federal guidance and whether they have mutual funds or exchange-traded funds that limit or bar fossil fuel investments. It’s worth noting that the Hegar campaign took in thousands of dollars from the likes of Valero, Nustar, CenterPoint, Marathon Petroleum, WPX Energy, NextEra, Philips 66, and NRG, among other companies during the 2020 election cycle alone.
As Reuters reports, financial companies may not like the blow Texas deals to them if they’re found to be boycotting fossil fuel companies. The Teacher Retirement System of Texas has invested $2.5 billion alone in BlackRock. Those funds likely won’t be touched given BlackRock’s repeated gushing over just how great polluters are. BlackRock executives penned a letter earlier this year detailing just how much they love oil and gas, with the memo explicitly stating that the company “will continue to invest in and support fossil fuel companies, including Texas fossil fuel companies.”