By Steven Allen Adams, The Parkersburg News and Sentinel
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Days after expressing their support for nuclear energy, members of the West Virginia Senate expressed support Thursday for a bill standing up against banks that boycott doing business with the coal and natural gas industries.
The Senate passed Senate Bill 262 Thursday morning 31-2 with one member absent and not voting. Sens. Eric Nelson, R-Kanawha, and Owens Brown, D-Ohio, voted no. The bill now heads to the House of Delegates.
SB 262 would authorize the State Treasurer’s Office to restrict state banking contracts with any bank or investment group that refuses to deal with coal or natural gas companies or terminates contracts with existing fossil fuel companies as a way to punish the companies for engaging in extractive industries.
The State Treasurer’s Office would be required to maintain a public list of restricted financial institutions. Any bank on the restricted list would be unable to enter into new banking contracts with the State Treasurer’s Office or remain in current contracts. Financial institutions that can show they are not or no longer engaged in energy company boycotts would be removed from the list…
To read more: https://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/business/2022/01/west-virginia-senate-passes-anti-energy-boycott-bill/
