Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar removed BlackRock Inc. from a list of financial companies banned from dealing with the state due to its boycott of the oil and gas sector, the Texas Comptroller’s Office said in a June 3 statement.
Texas passed Senate Bill 31 in 2021, prohibiting state entities from investing in financial companies that boycott energy businesses. In these cases, the financial organizations would refuse to deal with energy companies, terminate business contracts, and take actions that inflict economic harm on the companies.
In 2022, Hegar wrote to more than a dozen international financial companies, including BlackRock, to clarify their policies regarding fossil fuel investments. He eventually prepared a list of financial companies that boycott energy businesses, which included BlackRock….