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BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street sued by Republican states over climate push By Jonathan Stempel and Carolina Mandl, Reuters
The defendants were accused of exploiting their market power and involvement in climate advocacy groups to pressure coal companies to slash output and reduce carbon emissions from coal by more than 50% by 2030, driving up consumers' utility bills.
"Competitive markets โ not the dictates of far-flung asset managers โ should determine the price Americans pay for electricity," the states said in the complaint.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office filed the lawsuit, in a statement accused the defendants of promoting an "illegal weaponization of the financial industry in service of a destructive, politicized 'environmental' agenda."
The lawsuit aims to stop these companies from voting on shareholder resolutions or acting in a way to undermine coal output and competition. The Attorney Generals also want money โ calling for fines to be paid for the antitrust violation.
It was not Haigh's first experience of controversy in government. In October she made a series of comments about P&O Ferries on the eve of a big investment meeting, calling the company a "rogue operator" and describing its behaviour as an employer as "outrageous".The Guardian goes on to report:
P&O did not take kindly to her intervention and threatened to pull out of a ยฃ1 billion deal that was to be announced at the talks. It took interventions by Starmer and No 10 to get the investment back on track.
With P&O's parent company threatening to pull out of the investment, Downing Street distanced itself from her comments, and reports began to emerge suggesting she would be the first to be sacked in any future reshuffle. Her allies say she was left feeling isolated and bruised by the row.
"We had meetings [Biden officials] this spring that were the most alarming meetings I've ever been in. Where they were taking us through their plans, and it was - basically just full government - full government control - like this sort of thing, there will be a small number of large companies that will be completely regulated and controlled by the government, they told us. They said don't even start startups - there's just no way that they can succeed - there's no way that we're going to permit that to happen."
Comment: Jordan Peterson's conversation with a therapist that is repudiating the entire field.