Sooner State News

A financial management conglomerate has raised eyebrows because of its ties to China and its goal to lead the path to clean energy, all while being heavily invested in by states that rely on traditional energy.

The Daily Signal reported that Oklahoma ranks seventh in state pension funds invested with BlackRock, with a total investment of roughly $5.8 billion.

Consumers' Research reported that the other states were Washington, Florida, South Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Montana, Nebraska and West Virginia.

Some states, including Texas, have begun retaliating against companies that boycott energy companies by divesting their state's pension funds.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wrote a letter to the state's comptroller asking that, "As you prepare the official list of companies that boycott energy companies, I ask that you include BlackRock, and any company like them, that choose to hurt Texas oil and gas energy companies by boycotting them in violation of Senate Bill 13," Patrick said. "BlackRock is capriciously discriminating against the oil and gas industry by exiting investments solely because companies do not subscribe to a 'net zero' policy beyond what is required by law."

The Wall Street Journal reported that BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink wrote that those who choose not to transition to a carbon-free future risk being left behind with BlackRock at the forefront of that objective.

Fink did state in his letter that although BlackRock is highly focused on a net zero goal, "divesting from entire sectors – or simply passing carbon-intensive assets from public markets to private markets – will not get the world to net zero." Fink went on to say that "BlackRock does not pursue divestment from oil and gas companies as a policy."

Consumers' Research Executive Director William Hild wrote a letter to the states with the most invested in BlackRock, outlining his group's concerns.

"BlackRock has maintained a bullish approach to investing billions in Chinese firms, supporting their economy, and helping fuel the rise of their military, which barely a month ago tested a hypersonic missile," Hild wrote. "Investment in Chinese companies could also make U.S. investors unwitting accomplices in the expansion of the [Chinese Communist Party's] CCP’s surveillance and intelligence gathering apparatus or, worse yet, make them party to human rights abuses like the ongoing genocide against Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China."