Kentucky Treasurer, Attorney General Demand that State Pensions Stay Clear of ESG Investments

Kentucky state officials demanded to know if the state pension funds will stay clear of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing factors.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Kentucky Treasurer Allison Ball sent a joint letter to the Kentucky Public Pension Authority and the Kentucky Teachers’ Retirement System, which manage $38 and $28 billion in assets each. In the letter, the Kentucky public officials wanted the two retirement authorities to provide proof that ESG factors would not be implemented in their investment decisions.

Democrats in Congress as well as many corporations have pushed ESG policies that would push America away from less expensive and more reliable energy such as natural gas to unstable and more expensive energy sources such as solar and wind.

This letter arises after Ball requested an opinion from Cameron on the legality of ESG investments by Kentucky’s pension systems.

“must be single-minded in their motivation and actions and their decisions must be solely in the interest of the members and beneficiaries [and for] the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to members and beneficiaries.’”

Ball said in a statement, “Kentuckians worked hard for decades to earn their pensions and rely on them for livelihood in retirement. It is important their investments are maximized, not politicized. As the watchdog of taxpayer dollars, I remain committed to ensuring funds are invested and spent consistent with the law.”

Kentucky is just one of the many states that have rejected ESG investment strategies. Cameron, with 18 other Republican attorneys general, launched an investigation into six Wall Street firms over ESG.

“The joint action of Treasurer Ball and Attorney General Cameron sends a clear message to Kentucky’s pension fund investment managers: their obligations are to work for the pensioners, not the Democratic party, international climate groups, or megalomaniacs like Larry Fink,” Will Hild, the executive director of Consumers’ Research, said in a statement. “We applaud both officials in standing up for the citizens of Kentucky, who are being crushed due to reckless, illegal actions by companies like BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street that put progressive politics above their legal and moral duties.”