The Texas law that tries to stop companies from being mean to fossil fuels is getting popular, even if its execution and implications are still unclear. The state of Texas passed a bill that prohibits the state from doing business with institutions that boycott fossil fuels.
The original bill was passed a year ago. The Texas comptroller is instructed to create a list of businesses that boycott fossil fuels. It's not clear what qualifies as a "boycott" or how the state plans on cutting ties with financial institutions, banks, and other companies it deems aren't being nice enough to Big Oil. The law that banned the state from doing business with entities that didn't support Israel was blocked twice by judges.
Other states are following the example of Texas. The energy discrimination elimination act was signed into law by the governor of Oklahoma. Supporters of the bill claimed that Texas has not seen any higher costs as a result of implementing anti-fossil fuel regulation. Texas hasn't taken any actions yet against companies that it has decided are being unfair to fossil fuel companies so the true implications of laws like these have yet to be seen.
The state of Oklahoma is home to fossil fuels. The state won't do business with you if you boycott them.
The Texas law is being looked at by other oil and gas states. The state of West Virginia passed a bill earlier this year that restricts the state from working with banks that refuse to do business with coal, oil or natural gas companies. There is a bill in Indiana that would prohibit the state from investing in companies that boycott energy companies. The Louisiana House is considering a bill that would make the state afossil fuel sanctuary and prevent certain policies from hurting the industry.
The American Legislative Exchange Council is a powerful network of conservative politicians with links to the Koch Brothers. An email that was leaked late last year appeared to show ALEC discussing a template bill, but the organization denied approving a model bill. The states seem to be writing their own legislation.
Even as its real-world implications remain unclear, Texas is still forging ahead with the law. In March and April, Comptroller Glenn Hegar sent letters to nearly 150 financial companies, investment firms, and banks to question them on this front. Big-name financial players have reassured Texas that they still play nicely with fossil fuel companies despite their public stance on climate change.
As a financial bogeyman for the right, BlackRock has become a figurehead in the fight against "woke capitalism." The tiny moves the financial giant has made on climate, many of them made in talking points by CEO Larry Fink, are woefully inadequate for the kind of bigger- picture shift the right is supposedly afraid will happen. The recent charges include $1 trillion in coal projects around the world, $2 billion in oil extraction in the Amazon rainforest, and a $15.5 billion deal with Saudi Aramco.
It doesn't mean that a firm is putting its money where it says it is going. If a half-baked policy from a state that hampers its own grid and puts its residents in jeopardy in its effort to boost fossil fuels is all it takes for an enormous bank to collapse, they were never climate crusaders.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
