How Republicans Are ‘Weaponizing’ Public Office Against Climate Action “Nearly two dozen Republican state treasurers around the country are working to thwart climate action on state and federal levels, fighting regulations that would make clear the economic risks posed by a warming world, lobbying against climate-minded nominees to key federal posts and using the tax dollars they control to punish companies that want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “Over the past year, treasurers in nearly half the United States have been coordinating tactics and talking points, meeting in private and cheering each other in public as part of a well-funded campaign to protect the fossil fuel companies that bolster their local economies. “Last week, Riley Moore, the treasurer of West Virginia, announced that several major banks — including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo — would be barred from government contracts with his state because they are reducing their investments in coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel. “Mr. Moore and the treasurers of Louisiana and Arkansas have pulled more than $700 million out of BlackRock, the world’s largest investment manager, over objections that the firm is too focused on environmental issues. At the same time, the treasurers of Utah and Idaho are pressuring the private sector to drop climate action and other causes they label as “woke.” One laments the inappropriate use of “woke”, but I can understand the need for people to make a living to support themselves and their families. It would be wrong to dismiss that out of hand. But on that other hand, do we just ignore activity which is clearly harming the planet? And what about sacrificing now for the sake of our descendants’ future? Is it fair to bequeath to our grandchildren an uninhabitable planet? Tough choices.
I don’t like these kind of games. I think the people in charge of state funds have a responsibility to do what’s best for the state, balancing all concerns. I do chuckle at the term “weaponize” which gets thrown around a lot these days, usually with a negative meaning. In the 1980s when states divested companies that had dealings with South Africa in an attempt to end apartheid, was that also weaponizing?
