Texas targets financial firms that practice climate-conscious investing

Texas targets financial firms that practice climate-conscious investing

Transcript¹

Texas lawmakers want to pull money from companies accused of "boycotting³" oil and gas. Implementing⁵ the rule is tricky⁶. This story was done with Floodlight, an environmental news collaborative.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

State officials in Texas are working to pull money away from companies accused of boycotting the oil and gas industry. It's part of a trend in some red states to target financial firms that practice climate-conscious investing. Mose Buchele reports from member station KUT in Austin.

MOSE BUCHELE, BYLINE⁷: Last spring when state politicians proposed the idea, it seemed simple. Texas public money, they said, should not go to groups that withhold⁸ business from oil and gas, one of Texas' biggest industries. Here's how Republican State Representative Phil King put it in a committee hearing.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PHIL KING: This bill sends a strong message to both Washington and Wall Street that if you boycott² Texas energy, then Texas will boycott you.

BUCHELE: But to figure out which financial firms to boycott, it helps to have a list. So after the bill passed, the Texas Comptroller's Office started writing one up. Here's where things stopped being so simple.

SHERRI GREENBERG: This is not obvious. You're really going to have to do a lot of research.

BUCHELE: Sherri Greenberg is a former Democratic state representative who used to help oversee⁹ the state's pension fund. She says one example of how tricky the law is is that not only do financial firms need to be vetted¹⁰ but so do the investment plans they offer.

GREENBERG: Take Wells Fargo, for instance. If they have any mutual¹¹ funds or exchange traded funds in their portfolios¹² that prohibit or limit investment in fossil fuels, then that is problematic.

BUCHELE: The task of finding who qualified¹³ for the boycott proved so complicated that the comptroller's office hired a consulting firm called MSCI to get a list of companies taking aggressive climate action. But as state officials negotiated a price, they realized that they could be breaking the law by trying to implement⁴ it. That's because MSCI itself has aggressive climate goals that may put it on the boycott list. Emails obtained by the investigative reporting group Floodlight show how Texas state lawyers and MSCI had to come up with a workaround to the law to work together. I asked Greenberg what that says about the new law.

GREENBERG: It says it's difficult to implement and hard to research.

BUCHELE: The comptroller's office agrees. In an email, it wrote, this process has proven challenging given the scope of firms that we've been tasked with analyzing¹⁴. Texas comptroller Glenn Hegar also accuses firms of talking out of both sides of their mouths, telling both climate-conscious investors¹⁵ and Texas state officials what they want to hear. But critics say Texas is also trying to have it both ways, that the new law has key loopholes and exceptions. Rob Schuwerk leads the North American office of Carbon Tracker, a group that advocates for moving away from fossil fuels.

ROB SCHUWERK: When you look at the statute¹⁶ itself, it's got an exception for, for example, ordinary business decisions.

BUCHELE: What that means is if a company decides not to invest in oil because it thinks it will make more money elsewhere, then it won't be targeted by the law.

SCHUWERK: It's obviously intended to scare asset owners and asset managers into not divesting¹⁸. But I think if you were to divest¹⁷ because of financial reasons, that's an ordinary business decision for an asset manager or an asset owner.

BUCHELE: But those loopholes don't mean the law won't have an impact. Similar rules have been proposed or adopted in at least seven other Republican-led states.

LESLIE SAMUELRICH: You could see how it could have a chilling effect, and some investment firms might be worried about it.

BUCHELE: Leslie Samuelrich is the president of Green Century Capital Management, a group that helps run fossil-free mutual funds. On the day she spoke¹⁹ with NPR, she had just received a letter from the Texas Comptroller's Office full of questions about her firm's investment practices, one of hundreds the agency recently sent out. That's just the kind of attention most businesses would simply rather avoid, says David Spence, a professor of business and regulation at UT Austin. He says a lot of financial firms are now trying to please both red-state politicians and meet demands from others, including clients, the federal government and international community to be proactive on climate.

DAVID SPENCE: They have to figure out how to walk a tightrope²⁰ that may even be disappearing, you know, that may be impossible to thread that needle anymore.

BUCHELE: One option, of course, is to simply stop trying to thread that needle. Samuelrich says fossil-free investing is not going anywhere. And if her company ends up on a Texas boycott list, that might just attract more business her way. For NPR News, I'm Mose Buchele in Austin.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

3 boycotting   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They're boycotting the shop because the people there are on strike. 他们抵制那家商店，因为那里的店员在罢工。
• The main opposition parties are boycotting the elections. 主要反对党都抵制此次选举。

4 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

5 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

6 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 withhold   

v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡

参考例句：

• It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
• I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。

9 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

10 vetted   

v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的过去式和过去分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• The recruits were thoroughly vetted before they were allowed into the secret service. 情报机关招募的新成员要经过严格的审查。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All staff are vetted for links with extremist groups before being employed. 所有职员录用前均须审查是否与极端分子团体有关。 来自辞典例句

11 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

12 portfolios   

n.投资组合( portfolio的名词复数 )；（保险）业务量；（公司或机构提供的）系列产品；纸夹

参考例句：

• Price risk arises in non-trading portfolios, as well as in trading portfolios. 价格风险中出现的非贸易投资，以及在贸易投资组合。 来自互联网
• How do we fatten our portfolios and stay financially healthy? 我们怎样育肥我们的投资结构和维持财政健康呢？ 来自互联网

13 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

14 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

15 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

16 statute   

n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例

参考例句：

• Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
• The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。

17 divest   

v.脱去，剥除

参考例句：

• I cannot divest myself of the idea.我无法消除那个念头。
• He attempted to divest himself of all responsibilities for the decision.他力图摆脱掉作出该项决定的一切责任。

18 divesting   

v.剥夺( divest的现在分词 )；脱去（衣服）；2。从…取去…；1。（给某人）脱衣服

参考例句：

• Methods: The indication, methods and outcome of87 patients undergone laparoscopic ovarian cyst divesting surgery were analyzed. 方法对87例卵巢囊肿进行腹腔镜下剥出手术，严格把握操作要领。 来自互联网
• Conclusion The patients performed laparoscopic ovarian cyst divesting surgery had less complication and recovered soon. 结论腹腔镜下卵巢囊肿剥出术创伤小，术后恢复快并发症少，集诊断与治疗为一体，临床应用价值比较肯定。 来自互联网

19 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

20 tightrope   

n.绷紧的绳索或钢丝

参考例句：

• The audience held their breath as the acrobat walked along the tightrope.杂技演员走钢丝时，观众都屏住了呼吸。
• The tightrope walker kept her balance by holding up an umbrella.走钢丝的演员举着一把伞，保持身体的均衡。