The Battle of Blackrock's Front Moves to Oklahoma

Wednesday, May 22, 2024

Over twenty states have passed legislation that prohibits the state entrusting the management of state assets to companies that seek to harm the fossil fuel industry. Many of these states have been under attack by mysterious, well-funded, coordinated efforts to discredit those laws and the financial officials who are enforcing them. Right now that backlash is falling hardest against Oklahoma, it's anti-ESG law, and Treasurer Todd Russ, whose job it is to enforce it. Russ talks with Jerry and brings the goods on how Blackrock works against his state's principal industry. He details how, when he attempted to fire Blackrock from managing state assets, out-of-towners with "large briefcases of money" showed up and suddenly there were lawsuits, mysteriously funded studies supportive of Blackrock, and media campaigns launched against the law and himself. Russ explains why it's not just Oklahoma jobs at stake, but the whole world, which needs Oklahoma's energy to stay warm and fed. 

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