Associated Press
The Treasury Department is warning that state laws that restrict banks from considering environmental, social and governance factors could harm efforts to address money laundering and terrorism financing.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter sent Thursday to lawmakers. The letter singled out a law signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in May that says it would be an “unsafe and unsound practice” for banks to consider non-financial factors when doing business. The letter concludes that “such laws create uncertainty and may inhibit” national security efforts.
Conservative Republicans such as DeSantis have sought to block environmental and socially conscious standards for investing, saying that such initiatives can lead to unfair discrimination based on political beliefs and harm legitimate businesses. They say that considering environmental, social and corporate-governance issues, or ESG, before deciding whether to invest is woke behavior gone amok.
Tennessee recently enacted a similar law, although it was not mentioned in the Treasury letter. State legislatures in Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana and South Dakota also have measures along these same lines under consideration.
DeSantis has said the law being questioned by the Treasury Department would protect the access that conservative groups and the firearms industry have to the financial sector, arguing that such organizations have at times had their accounts frozen or closed.
The Treasury Department letter was a response to a July 8 request from U.S. Reps. Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, Blaine Luetkemeyer, a Missouri Republican, and Brad Sherman, a California Democrat.
Gottheimer said he was pleased that the Treasury Department shared his concerns.
“To any states that are considering similar laws, I urge them to think twice before putting America’s national security at risk,” the Congressman said in a statement.
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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
10 comments
Ocean Joe
July 19, 2024 at 3:48 pm
If there’s a problem, pretend it doesn’t exist, ban people and businesses from considering it and it will “magically disappear.”
Drill baby, drill! The party of know nothings is ascendent! Screw the future and those who will live in it, including your own children.
Michael K
July 20, 2024 at 3:33 pm
Drill everywhere – except here. It’s beyond stupid that the “Sunshine State” – of all places – chooses dirty fossil fuels over free, clean renewable sunshine. You’d think the petroleum industry owns the governor like the insurance companies and gun manufacturers do.
Confederacy of Dunces
July 19, 2024 at 4:36 pm
This is a ridiculous nothing burger. The law does not ban investing in businesses that have established ESG, it bans indiscriminate investing in companies with ESG as the sole basis for investing, such as the solar fiasco under Obama. Since most large corporations and many of the large banks have already adopted ESG platforms and it is not going away, the criteria is just that it has to make sense, ie make money. What conservative is going to balk at investing in a business that is doing well, ESG or not? Come on, man! As far as the debanking issue goes, the large banks don’t answer to Florida, they answer to Treasury and FinCen, and are under federal obligations to flag issues as necessary. That is a completely separate issue and both Treasury and the governor know it. Debanking is a dreaded last resort and it’s just not going to happen unless something is seriously wrong.
It was a stupid law that was a stupid stunt and now Treasury wading in is equally idiotic and baseless and they know it. More stupid distractions.
Confederacy of Dunces
July 19, 2024 at 4:40 pm
Wow. This comment was censored! Fla Pol is really turning up the heat. But you guys flinging insults at each other, I guess that’s ok. More dumbing down.
Confederacy of Dunces
July 19, 2024 at 4:36 pm
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
The law does not ban investing in businesses that have established ESG, it bans indiscriminate investing in companies with ESG as the sole basis for investing, such as the solar fiasco under Obama. Since most large corporations and many of the large banks have already adopted ESG platforms and it is not going away, the criteria is just that it has to make sense, ie make money. What conservative is going to balk at investing in a business that is doing well, ESG or not? Come on, man! As far as the debanking issue goes, the large banks don’t answer to Florida, they answer to Treasury and FinCen, and are under federal obligations to flag issues as necessary. That is a completely separate issue and both Treasury and the governor know it. Debanking is a dreaded last resort and it’s just not going to happen unless something is seriously wrong.
It was a stupid law that was a stupid stunt and now Treasury wading in is equally idiotic and baseless and they know it. More stupid distractions instead of talking about real issues, people.
Don’t Look Up
July 19, 2024 at 6:14 pm
The American senior citizen generation is responsible for the pending environmental catastrophe our planet faces today. They’ve created a near insurmountable problem that they are dumping on their children and grandchildren to fix. Ask any Trumpster and they’re more than willing to set the clocks back to an imaginary place in 1950 ……. So that they can ruin America all over again. America’s youth need to vote ….. and tell their parents and grandparents to stay away from the voting booth because senior citizens are the problem……and Trump is not the solution to the problems they’ve created.
Paul Passarelli
July 20, 2024 at 8:44 am
The huge uptick in Useful Idiot postings is a pretty clear indicator of how nervous the Lefties truly are.
Paul Passarelli
July 20, 2024 at 12:09 pm
Let me see if I have this correct. The 1.4 billion Indians & the 1.4 billion Chinese, the 1.2 billion Africans, are NOT the drivers of MMGW, because those populations don’t deforest vast areas for food or fuel. In fact, they consume no natural resources at all. Literally half of the world’s population exist on a ‘higher spiritual plane’. They exist to serve the Rich White Western Oppressors… NOT!
Here’s the flaw in your logic: If someone were to flip a lever and eliminate the rich half i.e. Western World, a large part of the poor people would end up dead in a very short time when the subsidies stop flowing. However if the lever was accidentally pushed the other way, the rich half would barely notice. Yeah the supply of cheap goods would dry up. But our survival wouldn’t be threatened in the slightest bit.
CO2 emissions would drop precipitously, and the scary MMGW threat would take second seat to the next artificial crisis fabricated by the Left to try yo take control of the dumb sheeple.
Hey, Don’t Look Up, don’t look now!
Don’t Look Up
July 20, 2024 at 7:16 pm
Your nonsensical verbal diarrhea indicates you’re one of those senior citizens who shouldn’t be voting. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund set the timeline for China and India to integrate into the capitalist manufacturing model. China happens to lead the industrialized world in green energy production turn around! Now go have your evening enema!
Michael K
July 20, 2024 at 1:19 pm
My Blackrock-managed retirement funds are outperforming all others. This anti-woke nonsense is stupid and puts retiree pensions at risk for DeSantis’ cheap personal political gain.
TruBluFL
July 24, 2024 at 3:51 pm
https://climateclock.world/
We have about 4-5 years with the Maga / Christian Nationalist in charge… They are driving us off the cliff. It’s about ultimate control of women and just about everyone else who doesn’t submit to them. Ya know the Woke people.
Makes you wonder why they’re buying bunkers!?!
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/bunkers-billionaires-survive-apocalypse-cost-features-1235822762/
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