Fox News’ Thomas Catenacci’s article, “Mississippi hits BlackRock with cease and desist, threatens massive fine over ESG policies,” shows us a Secretary of State who is following the Constitution and protecting his constituents from one of the Woke and disastrous schemes – the imposition of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria in the business world.

The Corporate Finance Institute says, “By restricting access to capital (or making the terms under which it’s available less favorable), bad actors may be incentivized to improve performance across E, S, or G measures.” By the term “incentivized” they mean threatening to stop the flow of vital money important businesses may need unless they are toeing woke priorities including the Green energy line. As companies and states are learning, ESG is very hard on the bottom line. And some are not afraid to stand up against it.

Last month, 16 Republican attorneys general—Montana, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Utah—demanded answers from BlackRock on its ESG policies and participation in climate organizations. They are starting to follow through.

Like a heroic Western sheriff, Secretary of State Michael Watson stated, “Investment companies will not push their political agenda on Mississippians”. He backed that up with the announcement that he had just issued a cease-and-desist order to BlackRock, alleging the firm had committed “fraud by misleading investors through its climate policies”. Then he added this kicker, “a notice of intent to impose an administrative penalty — which could amount to a first-of-its-kind multimillion-dollar fine”—all over ESGs.

The evidence Watson gave that BlackRock is pushing ESG seems compelling. According to the article:

Watson’s order adds that BlackRock has been a signatory of Climate Action 100+ alliance, which was formed by the United Nations to combat global warming through corporate sustainability agreements. As part of its membership, the firm agreed to “support the Paris Agreement and the need for the world to transition to a lower carbon economy.”

Catenacci’s article makes these further points:

“BlackRock made untrue statements that certain of its funds do not incorporate ESG considerations,” the Mississippi order reads, “As detailed extensively in this order, BlackRock stated on multiple occasions either expressly through publications or by action that the company does in fact incorporate ESG considerations into its non-ESG funds.”

Watson said BlackRock’s alleged behavior as outlined in the order constitutes a violation of Mississippi’s general fraud statute.

He finished his remarks in the same vein, “They’ve been lying to their customers, and states like Mississippi are not going to allow this to continue. Consumers’ Research will continue to support bold actions taken by state leaders to put an end to the misuse of assets by dishonest Wall Street fat cats like Larry Fink and BlackRock.”

Those 16 states that signed on to going after BlackRock for its ESG policies have just begun the fight. The Texas Permanent School Fund just pulled $8.5 billion from BlackRock, citing its ESG. It’s heartening to see that people are waking up to the fallacies of environmental policies and even to the absurdities of radicalized climate “science”. They and many more, please!

If you want to read the full article, go to:

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/mississippi-hits-blackrock-with-cease-desist-threatens-massive-fine-over-esg-policies