The Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission have bolstered a conservative legal effort to dismantle environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-based investment strategies from three large asset managers by claiming they illegally conspired to artificially raise energy prices.
BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard were sued in 2024 by 10 states for allegedly forming an “investment cartel” that sought to “weaponize their shares to pressure the coal companies to accommodate ‘green energy’ goals,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote in a press release after filing the lawsuit in November 2024. The lawsuit claimed that by reducing coal output, the asset managers increased the value of the stock of coal companies they held.
