Louisiana to divest $800 million from BlackRock investments

On Wednesday, Louisiana informed BlackRock that it would divest from the firm's investment portfolio over its anti-fossil fuel policies.

Louisiana Treasurer John Schroder wrote a letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink in which he stated that the state would liquidate all BlackRock investments within three months and divest nearly 800 million from the bank's money market funds, mutual funds or exchange-traded funds over a period of time. The state treasurer slammed Fink's pursuit of so-called environmental, social and governance standards that promote green energy over traditional fossil fuels.

Schroder wrote to Fink in a letter obtained by FOX Business that your blatantly anti-fossil fuel policies would destroy Louisiana's economy.

We can't be a party to the crippling of our own economy. Schroder said he wouldn't spend a penny of state funds with a firm that will take food off tables, money out of pockets and jobs away from hardworking Louisianans. Louisiana drills the second-most oil and third-most natural gas in the nation, including offshore production, according to the Energy Information Administration. The energy industry is the state's largest sector, accounting for 8.1% of the total gross domestic product of Louisana.

According to the letter, the state has already removed $560 million from BlackRock investments, a figure that will swell to $794 million by the end of the year, according to the treasurer.

Over the last several years, BlackRock and a number of other financial institutions have worked together to promote ESG standards. A major pillar of the ESG movement is to utilize publicly traded funds to incentivize a net-zero transition from fossil fuels to clean energy alternatives like wind and solar.

The firms have recently been under increased pressure from Republican-led states and groups like the State Financial Officers Foundation, which have criticized ESG policies as anti-democratic and in some cases illegal.

Consumers' Research applauds Treasurer Schroder's decision to withdraw the state's assets from BlackRock's misuse, said Will Hild, the executive director of Consumer's Research, told FOX Business in a statement. BlackRock is using Louisiana's money to advance a destructive agenda that raises costs for consumers in the state and across the country, as stated in his letter. The seeds of today's energy crisis were planted by BlackRock and others in their reckless abandonment of their fiduciary duty to cozy up to radical, woke politicians, he continued. We are glad to see the Treasurer working to put an end to their economic vandalism. In late July, West Virginia became the first state to punish banks that follow ESG standards. At the time, several other states, including Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Florida, South Carolina, Arizona, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Arkansas and North Dakota, told FOX Business they were prepared to take similar actions.