GOP states sue ESG 'cartel': BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street accused of manipulating energy market



A coalition of 11 Republican-led states filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against BlackRock, Vanguard Group, and State Street Corporation, accusing the three asset managers of violating antitrust laws.

According to the complaint, the companies' promotion of environmental, social, and governance standards resulted in less coal production and higher energy prices.

Companies 'formed a cartel to rig the coal market.'

The lawsuit stated that the financial institutions "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 themselves by leveraging their power.

Reuters reported that the three financial institutions have more than $26 trillion in assets under their management.

The companies have pressured coal companies to reduce their carbon emission by more than 50% by 2030, the complaint noted.

"Competitive markets — not the dictates of far-flung asset managers — should determine the price Americans pay for electricity," it read.

The coalition of states — including Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, West Virginia, and Wyoming — was led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R).

Paxton accused the asset managers of "illegally conspiring to manipulate energy markets."

"These firms also deceived thousands of investors who elected to invest in non-ESG funds to maximize their profits. Yet these funds pursued ESG strategies notwithstanding the defendants' representations to the contrary," he claimed.

The lawsuit accused BlackRock of "actively deceiving investors about the nature of its funds" by using all of its holdings, even those in non-ESG funds, to advance its climate goals.

Paxton told Turning Point USA founder and CEO Charlie Kirk that the reduced coal production forces the U.S. to purchase more energy overseas.

"It's affecting consumers in all kinds of ways," he said.

Paxton wrote in a post on X, "Texas will not tolerate the illegal weaponization of the financial industry in service of a destructive, politicized 'environmental' agenda. 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."

BlackRock said in a statement to Bloomberg that the lawsuit "undermines Texas' pro-business reputation."

"The suggestion that BlackRock invested money in companies with the goal of harming those companies is baseless and defies common sense," the company said.

Vanguard Group and State Street Corporation did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters or Bloomberg.

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SPINE-CHILLING: THESE are the stats banks DON’T want you to know about, according to RFK Jr.



It’s no secret that the housing market in the U.S. is a giant disaster. Interest rates have skyrocketed, prices have quadrupled, and these mysterious entities seem to swoop in with cash offers and buy up many of the available homes on the market.

What’s going on?

Democratic candidate RFK Jr. recently addressed these issues on the "Tim Dillon Show."

“Not only are we, you know, suffering inflation from the constant wars,” but “also you have these three giant companies – BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard,” who “ already own everything, and now they've decided they're going to buy every single-family home in America.”

“They're on track now to control, to own … 60% of the single-family homes in America within six years,” he explains.

It’s no wonder young people feel so discouraged these days. This is a death sentence to many people’s dreams of owning a home.

“Think about this for a second,” says Dave Rubin. “They're telling us and have been telling us for years: ‘You will owe nothing and be happy.”’

“Now the banks have gone from 2.5%-3% interest rates” to “around 9%, so the average person now if every month you have to pay 9% on that mortgage, now you're paying an awful lot,” Dave explains, “and suddenly you can't get that mortgage, you can't buy that house, and then what happens?”

“You have to end up renting,” which means “you're getting no equity, you're not building wealth over time,” and most importantly, you’re not owning anything, which is exactly what these mega corporations want.

“You can see the connection,” Dave says. “If the banks raise interest rates high enough, the average person is like, ‘I can't take out the loan’…and then BlackRock and Vanguard and these other companies come in … and they just buy the house for cash.”

Once they acquire the house, “they let it be empty … or they then allow it to be rented,” meaning they own everything, while people own nothing, which is exactly what they’ve said their plan is.

“So you see how the banks are connected to exactly what BlackRock is doing,” Dave concludes.


Want more from Dave Rubin?

To enjoy more honest conversations, free speech, and big ideas with Dave Rubin, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

House Republicans Probe Wall Street’s ESG Pioneers Over Potential Antitrust Violations

'When companies agree to work together to ... advance environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals, this coordinated behavior may violate the antitrust laws,' Republicans wrote.

'Follow the money': Ex-Anheuser-Busch exec explains how investment firms pressure major corporations to go woke



Woke agendas have cost Anheuser-Busch and Target billions in market value. However, major corporations are being pressured to push progressive causes by powerful investment firms, according to an ex-Anheuser-Busch exec.

Anheuser-Busch InBev has reportedly lost $27 billion in market value following the Bud Light promotion with LGBTQ activist Dylan Mulvaney and subsequent boycotts.

Boycotts of Target erupted after the national retailer promoted Pride month with "tuck-friendly" bathing suits, LGBTQ onesies for babies, and products from a transgender designer promoting Satanism. The boycotts caused JPMorgan to downgrade Target's stock, and the retail chain's share price dropped 14%.

Dominant investment firms are strong-arming companies to promote progressive values despite alienating large swaths of their customer base says Anson Frericks – former president of Anheuser-Busch sales and distribution.

"You just have to follow the money," Frericks said during an appearance on "Jesse Watters Primetime." "You take a look at BlackRock, State Street, Vanguard – they manage $20 trillion worth of capital."

Frericks noted that these impactful investment firms manage massive pension funds, such as the state of California's pension fund – the largest in the country. Frericks said that California politicians wield influence on which companies these firms invest in.

"In California, for example, they recently have mandated those large pension funds that they divest from things like fossil fuels and oil and gas, and then when Bill de Blasio, [former] mayor of New York, was there, he did the same thing," he said.

Frericks added, "But they also tell BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard if they're going to manage their money, they have to commit to things like ESG — diversity, equity, inclusion — and adopt firm-wide commitments that they therefore then force onto all the major companies in corporate America."

Frericks said he left Anheuser-Busch because large companies began engaging in politics and telling customers "how to live their lives."

He pointed to Georgia legislators passing election integrity laws, then BlackRock, Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, and MLB publicly opposing the law that didn't directly affect them.

Frericks told Fox News host Jesse Watters, "But what was crazy to me was that after the fact, BlackRock came out and they said, 'We're against this law. We think this is bad for democracy, this is bad for society,' and they basically then had companies like Coca-Cola, like Delta and heck — even Major League Baseball, they canceled an All-Star Game over this."

\u201cFmr. Anheuser-Busch Exec. on How BlackRock, State Street, & Vanguard Force Companies to Go Woke\n\n\u201cCitizens should be able to decide these things through free and fair elections, not necessarily with a small group of asset managers and CEOs that are telling individuals how to live\u2026\u201d
— Chief Nerd (@Chief Nerd) 1685880006

Frericks warned that BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard – known as the "Big Three" – are "proponents of what's called 'stakeholder capitalism,' which is a belief that businesses should be run not only to increase value to shareholders, but to serve all stakeholders, including government agencies, activists, and non-governmental organizations."

"The Big Three began to issue guidelines on how they expected their portfolio companies to honor this 'commitment' by implementing so-called Environmental, Social, and Governance, or ESG, targets, and scores," Frericks wrote in the Daily Mail. "To encourage compliance, the Big Three uses their power as shareholders to influence who sits on corporate boards."

He added, "The Big Three also wield enormous influence when it comes to executive pay. According to one study, a shocking 73% of S&P 500 companies now tie executive compensation to ESG measures. If a CEO doesn't weigh in on the latest social issue quickly enough, his or her bonus could be in jeopardy."

Frericks wrote that political and cultural issues "should be settled at the ballot box, not in the board room."

Previously, Glenn Beck warned of the dangers of ESG and how it could fundamentally transform the entire western world on BlazeTV.

How TERRIFYING new ESG rules will transform the ENTIRE WORLD www.youtube.com

Thanks To Leftists, The Black Talent Companies Seek To Hire With Racial Quotas Doesn’t Exist

Lack of representation in corporate board rooms is not because of mythical white privilege. It is due to the breakdown of the black family.

Global Investment Firm Forces Executives To Snub White Men In Light Of Race Hiring Quotas

The new policy reportedly states white men may only be hired after a non-white panel has evaluated job candidates of different races and ethnicities first.

One of world's top banks denies report that it requires recruiters to get approval before hiring white men



State Street Global Advisors, one of the world's largest investment banks, is denying a report that claimed the bank had implemented a new requirement that recruiters would need to seek permission before hiring white men.

What are the details?

In an effort to boost diversity, recruiters at State Street Global Advisors have been instructed to receive prior approval to hire white men over women or minorities, the Sunday Times reported.

The newspaper alleged that when recruiters seek to fill a middle-ranking staff position — which the Times identified as those positions at the "at senior vice-president level or above" — they are "required to assemble a panel of four or five people, including one woman and ideally someone of colour."

From the newspaper:

The policy is part of a drive by State Street to improve diversity within its middle and senior management, with executives receiving lower bonuses if they fail to meet robust equality targets. It has set out to triple the number of black, Asian and other minority staff in senior roles by 2023.

"This is now front and central for State Street — it's on every senior executive's scorecard," Jess McNicholas, the head of inclusion, diversity and corporate citizenship at State Street, told the Times. "All of our leaders have to demonstrate at their annual appraisals what they have done to improve female representation and the number of colleagues from ethnic minority backgrounds."

How did the bank respond?

Despite the Sunday Times quoting a top State Street official, the bank released a statement following the publication of the Times' story denying recruiters would need approval to hire white men.

"State Street is committed to inclusion diversity and equity, we believe it to be a critical component of our business success, as such; we expect our hiring managers to have the best possible slate of candidates for their open positions," the statement read, the Telegraph reported.

"We work to ensure a level playing field for candidates of all backgrounds and ensure that our hiring decisions are well informed and not-biased in order to select the best candidate for every job," the statement continued. "Hiring managers are not required to gain approval for hiring a person of any specific background or characteristics, and we include a process where decisions can be challenged to ensure that a well-informed and unbiased interviewing process has taken place to hire the best person for the job."

State Street is headquartered in Boston.

The bank has nearly $4 trillion under asset management, making it the fourth largest asset manager in the world, and nearly $39 trillion under custody and administration, second in the world to the Bank of New York Mellon.