W. Virginia Adds 4 Banks to Restricted Financial Institution List in Latest Blow to Radical ESG Movement

West Virginia joins the ranks of states fighting back against the radical environmental, social, and governance movement (ESG) pushed by major financial companies like BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo & Co.—all of which are on the state’s Restricted Financial Institution List.

On Monday, State Treasurer Riley Moore added four more institutions to the slate—Citigroup, TD Bank, HSBC, and The Northern Trust Company, which collectively manage trillions of dollars in assets. It’s the latest in a series of recent setbacks delivered to ESG by red states.

No thanks, ESG:

Texas Pulls $8.5B From BlackRock in Stunning Blow to ESG Movement

Louisiana Pulls $794 Million From BlackRock to Protest Its Radical Environmental Policies

Moore explained that he’s not going to sit idly by while these companies effectively boycott the fossil fuel industry, which comprises a huge part of the Mountain State’s economy.

"We are absolutely going to stand by our industries here in fossil fuels," Moore told FOX Business. "Last year, the world burned more coal than any time in human history. The consumption of coal is not going down. That is a myth that is proliferated by the climate-activist left. So, why would we put ourselves in a position to not be part of that?"

State Treasurer Riley Moore today announced he has added four financial institutions to the state’s Restricted Financial Institution List after determining these institutions are engaged in boycotts of fossil fuel companies.

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— WV Treasury (@WVTreasury) April 8, 2024

Banks on West Virginia’s naughty list lose out on the ability to bid on potentially lucrative deals:

Overall, the Investment and Banking Services Division of the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office managed $22 billion in banking transactions last year. The four institutions Moore listed on Monday, in addition to the existing banks listed, will be barred from the opportunity to bid on those transactions in the future.
According to Moore's office, the banks were added to the Restricted Financial Institution List following an extensive review of their environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies. The ESG movement, which has picked up steam in recent years, broadly calls for investments to be pulled from traditional energy industries and diverted to green energy industries in the fight against global warming.

The inherent conflict of interest with states doing business with companies that promote ESG is obvious: By working with such outfits, states effectively use taxpayer dollars to push radical social agendas that many of their own citizens don’t believe in. In the case of West Virginia, working with investment giants that actively boycott the fossil fuel industry also means they’re aiding and abetting the hurting of their own companies.

More and more states—almost exclusively Republican-led—are standing up to the ESG movement, and that’s a good thing. It doesn’t make economic sense, seeing as investment returns are often negatively affected by letting social movements guide strategy rather than sound financial analysis. I applaud these states, and I say: keep up the pressure.

We don’t need BlackRock and Citigroup using our taxpayer money to push their radical agendas.

Effective today, the following institutions on the list will be ineligible to provide banking services to the State.

The determination was based on a review of each firm’s own environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies and other publicly available statements.
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— WV Treasury (@WVTreasury) April 8, 2024