The lawsuit filed by eleven states accusing three of the biggest Wall Street asset managers of running an “investment cartel” to depress the output of coal is slowly making its way through a Texas U.S. District Court.
Oklahoma did not join the lawsuit filed last year by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and 10 other Republican Attorneys General against BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street.
The firms tried to get the case dismissed but a federal judge in Tyler, Texas ruled last month in support of continuing the lawsuit, stating there was enough evidence to go to trial.
The three firms plan to defend their ESG policies which provoked opposition by legislatures in Oklahoma and Texas. Oklahoma’s anti-ESG law remains in limbo because of a challenge at the State Supreme Court. BlackRock was one of the firms put on a banned list from doing business with state agencies.
Besides Texas, the other states who sued were Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, West Virginia and Wyoming.
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