Republican attorneys general are putting the pressure on a British climate activist group targeting the oil and gas industry and pushing an “unachievable climate agenda” that could jeopardize American energy independence and food supply.
Over a dozen Republican AGs, led by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, demanded Friday that the United Kingdom-based climate group Science Based Targets Initiative fork over documents on its work with companies to promote net zero emissions goals. The officials said that the group’s net zero commitments could run afoul of federal antitrust laws and state consumer protection laws.
“Net zero programs are unrealistic and harm both American agriculture and industry. Making net zero a goal actively harms Americans, creates risk for energy independence, and increases the cost of food,” the officials wrote in a letter exclusively shared with The Daily Wire. “Some economic arrangements are illegal because they are unfair or unreasonably harmful to competition; the ‘good intentions’ behind them are irrelevant.”
Science Based Targets Initiative “assesses and validates companies’ and financial institutions’ targets” through its subsidiary SBTi services and “develops standards, tools and guidance to enable companies and financial institutions to set science-based targets in line with the latest climate science,” according to the group’s website.
The group aims to crack down on greenhouse gas emissions and achieve net zero levels by at least 2050. Last month, it rolled out a new “fossil fuel transition policy requirement” that “sets out clear steps and timelines for ceasing new financial activities and insurance services to the fossil fuel industry.”
“SBTi is trying to redo President Biden’s radical green scheme,” Bird told The Daily Wire. “If successful, they’ll hurt farmers, energy producers, and Iowans. Their program limits output of goods or services but also net zero programs are unrealistic and harm both American agriculture and industry. Making net zero a goal actively harms Americans, creates risk for energy independence, and increases the cost of safe, healthy, nutritious food.”
Similar organizations, including Climate Action 100+ and the Net Zero Asset Managers Alliances, have struggled in recent months after they lost major participants like BlackRock and other major financial institutions amid congressional and state scrutiny.
In January, the House Judiciary Committee celebrated the exodus of groups from net zero alliances, with Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) calling the trend “a huge win for freedom and American prosperity.”
At one point, Net Zero Asset Managers Alliances, which says its goal is to push net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner, boasted its members controlled over $57 trillion in assets. The company has now suspended all activities following the departures.
However, the Republican attorneys general said they were concerned that the Science Based Targets Initiative was cropping up to push similar mandates and initiatives.
“As did those who subscribed to the previous net-zero alliances, members agree that they will perform certain functions — here, shutting off funding and insurance to oil, gas, and coal expansion — to be validated by SBTi,” they wrote. “But companies cannot collude to refuse access to their services, whether they do so in a smoke-filled room or launder that collusion through a third party.”
In addition to Bird, the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wyoming, and West Virginia signed onto the letter.
They requested that the Science Based Targets Initiative provide communications by September 8 between the group and its members on how climate commitments would be met, how financial institutions’ net zero goals were developed, and information on the group’s funding.
The Science Based Targets Initiative has already faced pressure from Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who opened an investigation last week into SBTi to see if it may be violating consumer protection and antitrust laws.
The attorneys general’s actions were backed by American Energy Institute CEO Jason Isaac and Consumers’ Research Executive Director Will Hild.
“SBTi’s financial standards aren’t just unrealistic, they’re potentially illegal, coordinating global firms to cut off essential industries from capital and insurance. These actions drive up energy and food prices for American families, all while outsourcing control to foreign NGOs and U.N.-backed pressure groups,” Isaac told The Daily Wire. “Americans aren’t going to sit back while unelected activists dictate economic policy from across the Atlantic.”