Texas is America’s biggest oil-producing state and seeks to acknowledge the financial institutions’ fossil fuel investment procedures and policies. Texas Comptroller, Glenn Hegar, is questioning 19 major financial companies to clarify whether they are boycotting the fossil fuel industry. According to Reuters, this includes the world’s largest resource manager BlackRock and a few top U.S. banks, such as JPMorgan and Wells Fargo.
The Senate Bill 13 was passed on June 14, 2021 and effective on September 1, 2021 in the state of Texas. This new law declares that Texas state agencies that invest funds from investing in financial companies that boycott energy companies is prohibited.
To implement the bill, Hegar sent a letter of clarification to the 19 financial firms’ oil and gas stance.
“A company that fails to provide clarification 60 days after receiving this letter will be presumed to be boycotting energy companies,” the Comptroller’s office said in a statement on Wednesday, March 16.
“Numerous companies and their leadership are pushing an environmental and social agenda that not only threatens Texas economy and jobs, but also undermines national security. All of this comes at a time when Texas oil and natural gas should be playing a key role in supporting the American economy and providing security for our allies abroad,” Hegar continued.
Comptroller Hegar will be sending more letter to over 100 other publicly traded investment companies that appear to fund boycotting fossil fuels.
“These companies will be asked to list all of their mutual funds and ETFs that refuse to invest in fossil fuels. Responses collected from these entities will help finalize the Comptroller’s list of companies that boycott the fossil fuel sector,” the Comptroller’s office assured.