Republican attorneys general move to block BlackRock’s ESG push

A group of Republican attorneys general filed a motion Wednesday with a federal regulator to block BlackRock from imposing its environmental, social and governmental (ESG) policies on utility companies.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is a signatory to the Climate Action 100+ and the Net Zero Asset Managers initiatives that seek to use the shareholder voting power of members to influence how utilities operate by reducing reliance on fossil fuels and cutting emissions linked to climate change. The climate targets of those initiatives would force fossil fuel use to be cut from 61% in 2020 to 25% by 2030 and to 2% by 2050.

Seventeen Republican state attorneys general filed a motion with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to dispute whether BlackRock should have a blanket authorization to buy more than $10 million voting stakes in utility companies without ensuring the asset manager refrains from requiring those energy providers to abide by ESG priorities. FERC is required to periodically review and approve or deny such blanket authorization applications for under the Federal Power Act.

"These elitists are trying to impose restrictions on energy companies and utilities that would never win approval at the ballot box," said Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita. "Their schemes could raise utility bills for regular Americans, including elderly Hoosiers on fixed incomes, and they could diminish the value of their investment accounts."

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"The public interest is served when investment companies build their business models on maximizing financial returns for clients," Rokita added. "Conversely, the public interest is hijacked when these companies subjugate clients’ financial interests to leftist fever dreams."

BlackRock has defended its participation in the ESG movement, which seeks to leverage financial markets to promote a green energy transition to counter climate change at the expense of companies that utilize fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas. 

Firms participating in ESG activism use the voting power of the shares they hold in various energy and utility companies to influence their actions to align with the movement’s goals – which critics say violates their fiduciary responsibility to maximize returns for shareholders.

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In a previous statement to FOX Business, BlackRock said, "Over the past year, BlackRock has been subject to campaigns suggesting we are either ‘too progressive’ or ‘too conservative’ in how we manage our clients’ money. We are neither. We are a fiduciary. We put our clients’ interests first and deliver the investment choices and performance they need. We will not let these campaigns sway us from delivering for our clients."

The letter to FERC by Republican state attorneys follows a similar move made in November 2022 against Vanguard, the world’s second-largest asset manager. A month later, Vanguard withdrew from the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, although it said that the move "will not affect our commitment to helping our investors navigate the risks that climate change can pose to their long-term returns."

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Will Hild, the executive director of Consumers’ Research, backed the latest move by the attorneys general in a release saying, "Great to see state attorneys general taking steps to protect American energy consumers from Wall Street’s reckless interference."

"Large firms like BlackRock pretend to ‘passively’ manage their shares while using those assets to bully utility companies into adopting radical left-wing policies – policies which make our energy grid more expensive and more unreliable," Hild added. "Affordable, reliable energy production is the cornerstone of our economy, and Americans’ quality of life depends on energy access. FERC must protect these utilities from blatant and reckless interference by BlackRock and others like it."

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Republican attorneys general joining in the filing represent 17 states including Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.