GOP States Issue Warning to Banks: Drop Coal or Gas and We'll Drop You
More than a dozen Republican-majority states have threatened to flex some muscle against banks that deny services to oil and gas companies, which they reportedly were directed to do by the Biden administration in recent months.
Axios reported Wednesday that President Joe Biden’s climate envoy, former Secretary of State John Kerry, has asked large financial institutions to “help reduce U.S. carbon emissions” by refusing to do business with energy companies.
A March report from Politico also said Kerry wanted to pressure banks to put oil and gas out to pasture.
As Axios put it, Democrats want to “de-bank” energy companies. Much in the same way banks targeted former President Donald Trump following the hysteria in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Kerry hopes to see lenders and money holders discriminate against Americans over their business activities.
Axios spoke to West Virginia state Treasurer Riley Moore, who vowed that banks that take Kerry up on his anti-American bullying campaign will face consequences.
“Frankly, it is not fair for the people of West Virginia to allow a bank to handle our money when they’re diametrically opposed to our way of life,” he said.
Moore called the issue of baking for energy firms one of “life and death” for coal-rich West Virginia.
“If you just cut these guys off at the knees — gas and coal in a state like West Virginia — and they can no longer conduct their business … it is going to destroy us,” he told Axios.
Moore on Wednesday wrote on Twitter that he is proud to lead a fight against “woke capitalists.”
I’m proud to lead this fight! We will not sit by and allow woke capitalists to kill our jobs, economy, and future! This is un-American. https://t.co/rYb4mVoWZP
— State Treasurer Riley Moore (@RileyMooreWV) May 26, 2021
Axios further reported that Moore “said coal and gas operators in his state have reported difficulties obtaining financing from banks blaming pressure from the Biden administration to try to ‘green’ their portfolios.”
The outlet also spoke to the State Department, to which Kerry still reports in his current position, and obtained a comment denying any strong-arm tactics from the green energy-obsessed federal government.
“At no point has Secretary Kerry pressured financial institutions into making commitments,” a State Department representative told Axios. “On the contrary, many financial institutions have reached out to Secretary Kerry to initiate conversations regarding the financial risks and potential opportunities related to climate change.”
Yeah, right.
Luckily, Moore is not alone as he stares at what must seem to be the full weight of the federal government. According to Axios, 15 states’ treasurers responded to Kerry’s threats by signing a letter vowing to penalize any bank that caves to political pressure and moves to appease the climate alarmist — and the anti-business administration he represents.
In a letter signed by the treasurers — whose states each use major financial institutions to manage money — the finance experts stood firmly with the Mountaineer State.
“As a collective, we strongly oppose command-and-control economic policies that attempt to bend the free market to the political will of government officials,” the letter states. “It is simply antithetical to our nation’s position as a democracy and a capitalist economy for the Executive Branch to bully corporations into curtailing legal activities.”
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The red-state treasurers added that “coal, oil, and natural gas industries in our states are vital to our nation’s economy. These industries provide jobs, health insurance, critical tax revenue, and quality of life to families across our country.”
The letter informed big banks that if they fold, each state would “put banks and financial institutions on notice of our position, as we urge them not to give in to pressure from the Biden administration to refuse to lend to or invest in coal, oil and natural gas companies.”
“As the chief financial officers of our respective states, we entrust banks and financial institutions with billions of our taxpayers’ dollars,” the treasurers added. “It is only logical that we will give significant weight to the fact that an institution engaged in tactics that will harm the people whose money they are handling before entering into or extending any contract.”
Letter to Kerry by The Western Journal
The letter, which was signed by officials from West Virginia to Arizona, concluded by stating they wouldn’t give much thought about divesting from firms that cave to pressure from leftists such as Kerry.
While it might seem as if far-left lunatics are now in charge of everything, it’s important to remember that in a system of federalism, states wield a great deal of power — especially when they stick together.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
