11 states sue megacorporations for pushing anti-coal climate policies
Eleven Republican attorneys general are suing three of the world’s largest corporations for anti-trust violations after they pushed climate policies to phase out coal.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the complaint along with AGs from Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, West Virginia, and Wyoming. They are suing BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street, three corporations that collectively manage about $26 trillion of the world’s wealth. Together they own 21.9% of companies on the S&P 500 and have nearly 25% voting power.’
‘American consumers have paid the price’
According to the complaint, the companies have been funding climate policies to drive down the coal industry and boost energy prices, creating profit for their clients. For American taxpayers, however, the decrease in coal supply from climate policies has resulted in higher energy bills and less grid reliability in severe weather. Experts have warned that Americans face potential blackouts this winter as coal-produced energy is restricted to “fight climate change.”
“As demand for the electricity Americans need to heat their homes and power their businesses has gone up, the supply of the coal used to generate that electricity has been artificially depressed—and the price has skyrocketed,” reads the complaint. “Defendants have reaped the rewards of higher returns, higher fees, and higher profits, while American consumers have paid the price in higher utility bills and higher costs.”
The three asset management giants hold major stakes in energy companies like Peabody Energy (30.43%), CONSOL Energy (28.97%), Vistra Energy, (24.94%), and others.
“Defendants have leveraged their holdings and voting of shares to facilitate an output reduction scheme, which has artificially constrained the supply of coal, significantly diminished competition in the markets for coal, increased energy prices for American consumers, and produced cartel-level profits for Defendants,” the complaint says.
‘A cartel to rig the coal market’
BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street are part of Climate Action 100+, a climate cartel that strongarms American companies into supporting radical environmental policies.
“Texas will not tolerate the illegal weaponization of the financial industry in service of a destructive, politicized ‘environmental’ agenda,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a statement. “BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street formed a cartel to rig the coal market, artificially reduce the energy supply, and raise prices. Their conspiracy has harmed American energy production and hurt consumers. This is a stunning violation of State and federal law.”
