Oklahoma isn’t the only state that banned investment bank BlackRock from handling state government contracts because of its reported policies against oil and gas, yet it continues financing energy projects.
As OK Energy Today has reported over the past month, BlackRock continues to have investments in major oil and gas companies in Oklahoma, yet it remains on the state Treasurer’s list of firms banned from state business because of its ESG policies.
Another of the latest? West Virginia where West Virginia Public Broadcasting recently reported while BlackRock, the world’s largest investment firm, is banned from state contracts by the state Treasurer’s Office, it is financing the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline.
The pipeline will carry natural gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia. BlackRock was banned from state business after the state did what Oklahoma did—create a law restricting financial institutions that were not friendly to fossil fuels.
Two years ago, the West Virginia Treasurer riley Moore issued the first such list of banned firms and accused BlackRock of putting Chinese interests over West Virginia’s and encouraging companies to distance themselves from coal, oil and natural gas.
“Any company that thinks Communist China is a better investment than West Virginia energy or American capitalism clearly has a bad strategy,” Moore said in 2022. “We will continue to give our state’s business to people who aren’t simultaneously trying to destroy our economy.”