CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Treasurer Riley Moore are praising JPMorgan Chase and State Street Corporation after the fund companies decided to withdraw from a $68 trillion international investor network they say is focused on “convincing the corporate world to act on climate change.”
JPMorgan Asset Management and State Street Global Advisors announced their plans to leave Climate Action 100+ on February 16.
“It has always been my position that investment firms should only consider the economic value of investments, not work to advance Biden’s far left woke climate change agenda,” Morrisey said. “This administration will stop at nothing, even dictating terms to Wall Street, to further Biden’s radical climate agenda and so-called diversity measures at the expense of hard-working American investors.
“I’m encouraged to see that at least some are finally listening. We will continue to fight this for as long as it takes.”
Moore said CA100+ tries to influence corporations to implement net-zero and decarbonization policies that negatively affect states with coal, oil and natural gas industries.
“This is a step in the right direction and significant victory in our states’ fight against the international corporate collusion targeting the coal, oil and natural gas industries,” Moore said. “West Virginia and our coalition of states have been fighting for years against these efforts to boycott and curtail capital to our critical energy industries and diminish important economic activity and revenue for our states. This is a sign our efforts are making an impact.”
JPMorgan said it decided not to renew its membership of the Climate Action 100+ investor group after "significant investment" in its investment stewardship capabilities over the last couple of years.
"The firm has built a team of 40 dedicated sustainable investing professionals, including investment stewardship specialists who also leverage one of the largest buy side research teams in the industry," it said in a statement.
Morrisey has long been at the forefront of fighting Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investment practices. Last March, his office joined a coalition of AGs urging JPMorgan and other investment advisors to withdraw from Climate Action 100+ and similar groups that have been under scrutiny from members of Congress and state officials due to potential antitrust and anti-competitive practice concerns.
His office has led coalitions in challenging these practices that “saddle American businesses and investors with crippling ESG-related requirements.”
Moore said the companies’ decisions were the latest sign the efforts to combat ESG efforts are producing positive results.
“Our coalition of states has been proactive in using our collective power in the marketplace to fight back against these anti-American and anti-competitive ESG practices that have pervaded our largest global financial institutions, including those that wish to handle public funds,” Moore said.
Moore also has made multiple pushes against ESG investment schemes. In November 2021, he announced a 15-state coalition of state treasurers and financial officers who have committed to reforming their state banking contract process to prohibit awarding state banking contracts to financial institutions that are engaged in boycotts of America’s traditional energy industries.
In January 2022, Moore became the first state official to divest roughly $8 billion from BlackRock over its ESG activism. He also created the nation’s first Restricted Financial Institutions List, which renders firms ineligible for state banking contracts due to anti-fossil fuel policies.