It’s the 12 Days of Ballotpedia! Your gift powers the trusted, unbiased information voters need heading into 2026. Donate now!
West Virginia treasurer speaks out against S&P ESG indicators (2022)
| Environmental, social, and corporate governance |
|---|
|
| • What is ESG? • Enacted ESG legislation • Arguments for and against ESG • Opposition to ESG • Federal ESG rules • ESG legislation tracker • Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's weekly ESG newsletter |
In April 2022, West Virginia Treasurer Riley Moore followed his Utah counterpart, Treasurer Marlo Oaks, in opposing S&P Global’s state ESG ratings and calling for them to be scrapped. According to Bloomberg:[1]
| “ |
West Virginia’s Republican treasurer called on S&P Global Ratings to scrap a new system scoring U.S. states on their environmental, social and governance efforts, calling the ratings scale a 'politically subjective' scheme that will force states to yield to 'woke capitalists.' 'This new ESG rating system is just the beginning of a new wave of judging states – and their people – not by valid financial metrics, but by the preferred political views and outcomes of a select global elite,' West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore said in a statement released earlier this week. 'The ESG movement is nothing but a slippery slope whereby our states and our people will be forced to bend the knee to the woke capitalists or suffer financial harm.' S&P’s new system scores governments on categories like human rights, social integration, low-carbon strategies, climate measures and sustainable finance. The company released its first scorecard March 31. S&P declined to comment. West Virginia, a Republican-controlled state, received a negative social score and a moderately negative environmental score. The vast majority of states’ ratings were neutral. West Virginia has an AA- bond rating from S&P, its fourth-highest. 'So despite our state’s excellent financial position, our taxpayers could now be punished with higher borrowing costs simply because S&P doesn’t like our state’s industries and demographic profile,' Moore said. 'This ratings scheme will affect our state and its municipalities, and begs the question: at what point will this stop? Will individuals soon get ESG ratings as part of their credit scores? Where will it end?'[2] |
” |
See also
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's ESG newsletter
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Bloomberg, "West Virginia Blasts S&P ESG Scoring as ‘Politically Subjective’," April 27, 2022
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
