PA Environment Digest Blog: PA State Treasurer Garrity Calls On Biden To Withdraw Fed Nominee Because She Advocates For Sustainable Investments And Is A Threat To Oil, Gas, Coal Companies

On February 2, Republican PA State Treasurer Stacy Garrity joined other conservative state fiscal officers calling for President Biden to withdraw his nominee to become the federal government’s top banking supervisor, Sarah Bloom Raskin, because she advocates for “sustainable investments principles that do not depend on carbon and fossil fuels” as advocated by Ceres.

“This nominee is a risk to reliable energy companies and the millions of people who are employed by them here in Pennsylvania and across the country.

"She has claimed that the fossil fuel industry is a ‘dying industry’ and actively worked against it.

"Meanwhile, the Energy Information Administration’s preliminary data for 2020 shows that energy produced from petroleum, natural gas, and coal accounted for about 79 percent of total U.S. primary energy production.

"These energy industries are critical to our nation’s economy, and it’s clear that Ms. Raskin is not the right person to serve in this position. If President Biden doesn’t withdraw the nomination, the Senate should swiftly reject it.”

The letter said, “All financial institutions should evaluate their relationships with reliable energy companies, just as they would any legal business, without prejudice or preference, based on risk and return.

“However, Ms. Raskin believes that capital allocation should not solely be based on risk and return. Instead, she argues for “the adoption of practices and policies that will allocate capital and align portfolios towards sustainable investments that do not depend on carbon and fossil fuels,” as reported in the June 1, 2020, Ceres report.

Garrity was joined by treasurers and other fiscal officers from Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming in calling for President Biden to withdraw the nomination.

In their letter to President Biden, Garrity and the other fiscal officers wrote that they “oppose Ms. Raskin’s radical banking and economic views and are deeply concerned that she would use the supervisory authority as Vice-Chair for Supervision at the Federal Reserve Bank to disrupt the private banking sector, reliable energy supplies, and the U.S. economy.”

Click Here for a copy of the letter.

Resource Link:

-- White House: Biden Nominates Sarah Bloom Raskin To Fed

NewsClips:

-- PG: Toomey, Oil & Gas Industry Oppose Fed Nominee Over Climate Stress Test Concerns

-- CNBC: Republicans Grill Fed Nominee Raskin Over Past View On Climate, Big Energy Companies [Republican Characterizations Of Raskin Requires A “Suspension Of Common Sense”]

-- WPost: Fed Nominee Raskin Wants The Fed To Tackle Climate Change Risks, Making Her A Target For Republicans

-- AG Shapiro Charges Energy Transfer Partners With Environmental Crimes Over Revolution Natural Gas Pipeline Explosion

-- AP: DEP Files Lawsuit Against Reference Bureau To Publish Final RGGI Carbon Pollution Reduction Regulations; PA Could Lose Air Pollution Reductions, $283 Million

-- SEEDS, Northern Poconos Chamber Name Highlights Foundation 2022 Green Business Of The Year In NE PA

-- Guest Essay: Solar Means Business in America: Here’s What that Looks Like in Pennsylvania - Scott Elias, Mid-Atlantic Director, Solar Energy Industries Association

-- Washington & Jefferson College Hosts Feb. 16 Webinar On First in the World: An Airport That Generates Its Own Power [Spoiler, It’s Pittsburgh]