WASHINGTON – All three West Virginia Republican representatives have joined a letter to President Joe Biden with other members of the House of Representatives expressing “serious concern” about his nominee for a key Federal Reserve position.
David McKinley (who also is chairman of the Coal Caucus), Carol Miller and Alex Mooney were among the 46 House members signing the letter written by Pennsylvania representative Guy Reschenthaler. The letter details how Sarah Bloom Raskin’s nomination as Vice Chair for Supervision at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is “indicative of the Biden Administration’s continued war on U.S. energy producers.”
“The Biden Administration has its head in the sand, at a time when inflation and energy costs are sky high, hurting American families, their nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin reaffirms they are committed to pursuing their disastrous anti-fossil fuel agenda,” McKinley said. “Ms. Raskin has a clear history of putting personal beliefs ahead of unbiased guidance and would steer the Fed outside of its statutory mission.
“Her nomination risks the Federal Reserve’s impartiality in protecting America’s economic interests. Turning the Federal Reserve into a far-left climate policy advocate is wrong for America and proves this administration would rather appease their base than do what is best for America’s energy and economic future.”
Raskin, a Duke University law professor, has been outspoken in pushing the Fed and other financial agencies to use regulatory powers to stifle the flow of capital to the coal, oil and natural gas industries. She was questioned last week by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
And in a 2020 New York Times opinion piece titled “Why is the Fed Spending So Much Money on a Dying Industry?,” Rasin said the Federal Reserve should use its power to withdraw capital from traditional energy sources such as coal, oil and natural gas and direct it toward emerging technologies.
Last month, 41 trade associations (accounting for 70 percent of the nation’s energy production) also sent a letter opposing Raskin’s nomination.
“Raskin has previously argued that all financial institutions should re-evaluate their relationships with energy companies and has advocated for a push toward sustainable investments that do not depend on carbon and fossil fuels,” said Megan Henney of Fox Business. “If banks and other financial institutions do not take these steps to distance themselves from fossil-fuel companies, Raskin has said, the Fed should penalize them.”
In the letter sent to Biden, the House members told Biden his administration’s energy policies “already led to record-breaking prices at the pump, higher home-heating costs, and devastating inflation.”
“The last thing American families need is a Green New Deal at the Federal Reserve,” the letter states. “One of our country’s greatest strategic advantages is our stock of natural resources. Unlike other nations, the U.S. is positioned for energy independence because of our massive reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas.
“These abundant supplies keep energy costs low for residential, commercial, and industrial consumers of electricity, heating, and transportation fuels. They also allow us to assist our allies and strategic partners against foreign aggression like the kind we are currently witnessing with Russia.”
They say confirmation would give Raskin “tremendous regulatory and supervisory authority that could be weaponized to discourage or prohibit banks from lending to or investing in American energy.”
“Her consistent advocacy for the Federal Reserve to de-bank energy companies raises the troubling prospect that she would do just that,” the letter continues. “After describing the energy sector as a ‘dying industry,’ she argued — at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — that the Federal Reserve should have excluded energy companies from its emergency lending facilities.”
It also says Raskin has urged financial regulators to adopt “policies that will allocate capital and align portfolios toward sustainable investments that do not depend on carbon and fossil fuels.”
“She endorsed particular regulatory measures, which are not enumerated in statute, to achieve these objectives,” the letter states. “These include ‘climate stress testing’ and ‘portfolio limitations or concentration limits’ for assets deemed to be ‘high-emission.’
“Such actions would irreparably politicize the Federal Reserve and destroy what remains of its credibility and independence.
“It is ironic that at a time when your administration is working to send American natural gas to our allies in Europe, you are also promoting an individual who supports cutting off the very same suppliers’ access to the banking system. We urge you to consider American workers and families, as well as our allies abroad, and end your war on our nation’s energy producers.”
