The West Virginia government will be banning six of the nation's largest financial institutions from future state contracts over their ESG policies and bias against the fossil fuel industry.
The financial institutions that will be banned from state contracts include BlackRock Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., JP Morgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley, The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and US Bancorp, according to Politico.
State Treasurer Riley Moore sent the companies a letter on Friday notifying them that they will be placed on the West Virginia's Restricted Financial Institution List in 45 days, the outlet reports.
The financial institutions have 30 days to respond to Moore's letter with information showing that they are not boycotting the fossil fuel industry, or they will be placed on the list. If they choose not to respond, the firms will be ineligible to remain in banking contracts with the state.
Moore said that the ban comes in response to a recently passed state law that is designed to "push back against unfair discrimination against our coal, oil and natural gas industries by the financial sector."
The state of West Virginia relies heavily on the fossil fuel industry as they rank No. 2 in coal production, No. 5 in natural gas production and No. 5 in total energy production, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Moore is leading a 15 state-coalition that is organizing efforts to go after banks that are displaying bias towards the fossil fuel industry.
Last year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last year enacted a law which bans the state from investing with companies boycotting fossil fuels.
Democrat Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear joined the coalition and signed a similar bill into law earlier this year.
Join and support independent free thinkers!
We’re independent and can’t be cancelled. The establishment media is increasingly dedicated to divisive cancel culture, corporate wokeism, and political correctness, all while covering up corruption from the corridors of power. The need for fact-based journalism and thoughtful analysis has never been greater. When you support The Post Millennial, you support freedom of the press at a time when it's under direct attack. Join the ranks of independent, free thinkers by supporting us today for as little as $1.
Remind me next month
To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our Privacy Policy
