Texas put its new anti-ESG divestiture law to use this week when its Texas Teacher Retirement System divested part of its pension fund from 10 financial firms that were “boycotting” the oil and gas industry.
The state’s law, approved in 2021 a year before Oklahoma created an Energy Discrimination Elimination Act following claims of oil and gas discrimination by BlackRock Inc., was cited by Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar. It was in August when he released a list of 10 investment firms and funds that would be blocked from doing business with the state over their climate-change-conscious investment strategies reported the Texas Tribune.
Oklahoma has yet to force any state agency funds to divest investments of similar lending institutions. State Treasurer Todd Russ is in the process of attempting to determine whether there is such discrimination against Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry.
Click here for Texas Tribune