Top bank CEOs decline radical climate demands from Rep. Tlaib: 'That would be the road to Hell for America'
J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon clashed with the Squad member on whether banks should invest in new fossil fuel projects
Rep. Rashida Tlaib clashes with top bank CEOS: 'The road to hell for America'
Rep. Rashida Tlaib clashed with top bankers after they rejected her demand to cut off all financing to fossil fuel projects immediately. J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon told her that would be "the road to hell for America."
Leaders in the banking industry clashed with Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Wednesday after Tlaib demanded that they commit to immediately end all financing of all fossil fuel products.
J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon told the far-left representative during a House Financial Services Committee hearing that her request would lead to despair and ruin.
"You have all committed, as you all know, to transition the emissions from lending and investment activities to align with pathways to net-zero in 2050… So no new fossil fuel production, starting today, so that's like zero. I would like to ask all of you and go down the list, cause again, you all have agreed to doing this. Please answer with a simple yes or no, does your bank have a policy against funding new oil and gas products, Mr. Diamond?" Tlaib asked.
"Absolutely not, and that would be the road to hell for America," Dimon responded.
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The CEOs of the biggest US consumer banks are set to warn lawmakers that Americans are struggling amid surging inflation, as they brace for tough questions about how they're helping customers being pummeled by rising prices. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"Yea. That's fine. That's fine," Tlaib responded. "Sir, you know what, everybody that got relief from student loans [that] has a bank account with your bank should probably take out their account and close their account."
She continued, "The fact that you're not even there to help relieve many of the folks that are in debt, extreme debt because of student loan debt, and you're out there criticizing it."
Tlaib proceeded to ask the other bankers their position, to which they all responded that they would continue to invest in oil and gas in addition to alternative energy projects.
Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co., during a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"We will continue to invest in and support clients who are investing in fossil fuels and in helping them transition to cleaner energies," Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup said.
Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, echoed Fraser.
"We are helping our clients make a transition, and that means we're lending to both oil and gas companies and to new energy companies and helping monitor their course towards the standards you're talking about," he said.
House Oversight and Reform Committee member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) attends a hearing about the 2020 census in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill January 09, 2020 in Washington, DC. ((Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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Critics of the environmental policies Tlaib advocates, argue that those policies have already reduced funding to fossil fuel projects which has exacerbated the energy shortages seen in Europe since Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year. American financier Kyle Bass, for example, argued that the transition from fossil fuels to alternative energy must not be rushed.
"These transitions take forty years, Joe. The move from coal to natural gas took forty years. They take a very, very, very long time. We can't just flip a switch," he told CNBC in an interview last month.
