BlackRock Utilized Oklahoma Pension Funds For Progressive Agendas
According to a report by the conservative watchdog group American Accountability Foundation (AAF), asset management firm BlackRock has been using Oklahoma’s pension funds to push a progressive racial and climate agenda since 2022. The Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) enlisted BlackRock to manage around $4.4 billion of its investments, with BlackRock backing numerous shareholder proposals aligned with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals.
BlackRock’s involvement included supporting 54 shareholder proposals related to racial equity audits, gender pay gap reports, and climate policies. AAF President Thomas Jones criticized this use of public funds, claiming it endangers the financial security of Oklahomans and the livelihoods of energy workers. “These woke bankers and Wall Street elites are using taxpayer dollars to impose a leftist agenda on America,” Jones stated.
Despite the criticism, BlackRock maintains that its actions aim to advance clients’ financial interests. The firm referenced a report from the Committee To Unleash Prosperity, which gave BlackRock a high shareholder voting score of 8.9 out of 10, and highlighted that it voted against 93% of climate and social proposals in 2023.
In June 2022, BlackRock used OPERS’ pension funds to support a racial equity audit at Alphabet, Google’s parent company. The proposal, introduced by the Nathan Cummings Foundation, called for an independent audit of Alphabet’s impact on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. BlackRock also backed proposals for Berkshire Hathaway to disclose and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and for ExxonMobil to evaluate the financial impact of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
Republicans have been critical of ESG investing strategies, arguing they prioritize political issues over profitability. Oklahoma’s state government, under Treasurer Todd Russ, blacklisted 13 financial firms, including BlackRock, for boycotting energy companies. However, OPERS exempted BlackRock from this ban for fiduciary reasons.
An Oklahoma judge temporarily blocked the enforcement of the Oklahoma Energy Discrimination Act of 2022, which prohibited financial firms from discriminating against energy companies. Similar practices by BlackRock have been reported in Nevada, where pension funds were also used to support progressive initiatives.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink announced in June that he would stop using the term “ESG” due to its political connotations. OPERS and Oklahoma state officials have not responded to requests for comment on the report.