Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond is among 23 state Attorneys General questioning the legality of a new net-zero carbon emissions standard for businesses under state and federal law.
Led by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, the attorneys general co-signed a letter to David Kennedy, CEO of the Science Based Targets initiative which recently released its Financial Institutions Net-Zero standard. This standard is meant to aid financial institutions “in addressing their most significant climate impact through alignment and sector-specific targets,” according to the document, through actions like stopping or limiting investments in new projects related to fossil fuel expansion and addressing deforestation risks in existing investments.
Reports indicated the standard might be in conflict with state and federal laws that limit ESG investment strategies. There are 20 states with “anti-ESG rules in effect as of 2023 and Oklahoma is one of them.
The letter was co-signed by attorneys general from 22 other states — Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
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