Connect with us

Published

on

TheState of Texas is terminatinga massive $8.5 billion investment with trillion-dollar asset manager BlackRock over the state’s determination that the firm is engaged in a boycott of energy companies.

In an announcement first shared with FOX Business, Texas State Board of Education Chairman Aaron Kinsey said the so-called Texas Permanent School Fund (PSF) haddelivered a notice to BlackRockon Tuesday, informing the New York City-based firm of the action.

According to Kinsey, the move was made in accordance with a 2021 state law that seeks to distance the state and its large public purse from financial institutions boycotting the oil and gas sector.

“The Texas Permanent School Fund has a fiduciary duty to protect Texas schools by safeguarding and growing the approximately $1 billion in annual oil and gas royalties managed by the Texas General Land Office,” Kinsey said in a statement Tuesday. “Terminating BlackRocks contract ensures PSFs full compliance with Texas law.”

“BlackRocks dominant and persistent leadership in the ESG movement immeasurably damages our states oil & gas economy and the very companies that generate revenues for our PSF. Texas and the PSF have worked hard to grow this fund to build Texas schools,” he continued. “BlackRocks destructive approach toward the energy companies that this state and our world depend on is incompatible with our fiduciary duty to Texans.”

The divestment represents a large share of the $53 billion Texas PSF, a fund created in the 19th century to support the state’s public schools.

The action also represents by far the largest divestment of its kind since Republican-led states began terminating their financial ties to BlackRock and other financial institutions over their pursuit of so-calledenvironmental, social and governance (ESG) standards.

The ESG movement, which has picked up steam in recent years, calls for investments to be pulled from traditional energy industries and diverted togreen energy industriesin the fight against global warming.

However, the ESG movement has faced significant resistance from both the energy industry and lawmakers at the state and federal level.

As part of that pushback, Texas passed Senate Bill 13 in 2021, requiring its state comptroller to list financial companies found to boycott fossil fuel companies.

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar most recently updated that list in October, including BlackRock and several funds managed by the firm, and has called on the Texas Permanent School Fund, in addition to five state pension funds, to sever ties with the asset manager.

“Today represents a major step forward for the Texas PSF and our state as a whole. The PSF will not stand idle as our financial future is attacked by Wall Street,” Kinsey said Tuesday. “This bold action helps ensure our PSF remains in fact permanent and will continue to support bright futures and opportunities for generations of Texas students.”

BlackRock, whichmanages more than $10 trillion in assets, has sought to defend itself in recent months from accusations that it is boycotting energy companies, noting that it remains invested in traditional energy companies, but factors in ESG matters because it serves clients with a range of investment objectives.

Additionally, the firm partnered with major energy company Occidental Petroleum late last year on a carbon capture project in Ector County, Texas.

“BlackRock is helping millions of Texans invest and save for retirement,” a BlackRock spokesperson told FOX Business. “On behalf of our clients, weve invested more than $300 billion in Texas-based companies, infrastructure and municipalities, including $125 billion invested in the energy sector, including a $550 million joint venture with Occidental. We recently hosted an energy summit in Houston designed to explore how to strengthen Texas power grid.”

Still, Texas’ move was cheered by Derek Kreifels, the CEO of the State Financial Officers Foundation, and Will Hild, the executive director of Consumers’ Research, who have led nationwide opposition to ESG policies.

“Todays bold step by Aaron Kinsey and the Permanent School Fund of Texas, in accordance with state law, is a massive blow against the scam of ESG,” said Kreifels. “This is what happens when public fiduciaries stand up for those to whom they owe a duty, instead of bowing down to Wall Streets asset managers who continue to abuse their position in the market to advance radical ideologies.”

“Under Larry Fink’s leadership, BlackRock has been misusing client funds to push a political agenda for years. Nowhere was that more egregious than in Texas, where BlackRock was simultaneously trying to destroy the domestic oil and gas industry while managing funds that depended on royalties derived from that very same industry,” added Hild. “A more flagrant violation of fiduciary duty is difficult to imagine.”

Hild said Texas’ divestment sends a “clear message” that “Wall Street elites that people can no longer be bullied into complying with ESG’s destructive ideology.”

Prior to the action announced Tuesday, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, South Carolina, Utah, and West Virginia announced similar divestments.

The largest previous divestment was Florida’s, worth $2 billion, announced by Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis in December 2022.

Some critics of the states’ moves distancing themselves from BlackRock andother asset managershave argued the actions harm consumers.

For example, a Texas Association of Business Chambers of Commerce Foundation study released last week concluded Texas Fair Access laws will result in $668.7 million lost in economic activity and 3,034 fewer full-time, permanent jobs.

Continue Reading

Sports

Cyclones name WSU’s Rogers to replace Campbell

Published

on

By

Cyclones name WSU's Rogers to replace Campbell

Washington State coach Jimmy Rogers has agreed to a six-year deal to become the next coach at Iowa State, the school announced Friday.

Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard moved quickly to replace departing coach Matt Campbell, who agreed to an eight-year deal to take over Penn State on Friday, and landed Rogers, a proven winner at the FCS level who just concluded his first regular season at Washington State.

“Jimmy Rogers is a rising star in college athletics who has very strong ties to the Midwest both as a player and as a coach,” Pollard said in a statement. “He has been on my short-list ever since the first time I met him. He immediately impressed me with his interest in Iowa State University and told me during our first visit several years ago that he wanted to be the next head coach at Iowa State.

“Since our initial meeting, I have stayed in close contact with him and have been very impressed with his work ethic and understanding of what it takes to be successful at Iowa State,” Pollard added. “He is a proven winner who has demonstrated throughout his career that he will fit our culture.”

Rogers, 38, has a 33-9 record over three seasons as a head coach. He went 6-6 in his debut season at Washington State after overseeing a significant roster rebuild following the departure of coach Jake Dickert to Wake Forest.

“My family and I are excited to be joining the Iowa State University community and the Cyclone football program,” Rogers said in a statement. “Iowa State has been one of the nation’s top programs for the last decade and we look forward to building upon its upward trajectory. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity that Jamie Pollard has given me to lead the Cyclones.”

Rogers previously spent 12 years at South Dakota State and led his alma mater to an FCS national championship in 2023 with a 15-0 season in his first year as the Jackrabbits’ head coach after taking over for longtime coach John Stiegelmeier.

Rogers carried a 29-game win streak into his second year as coach and achieved a No. 3 finish in 2024 with a run to the FCS playoff semifinals and a 12-3 season.

The Jackrabbits also won the FCS national championship in 2022 after Rogers was elevated to being the team’s sole defensive coordinator, and they played for another FCS title in 2020.

Campbell, the winningest coach in Iowa State history with 72 victories, led the Cyclones to eight winning seasons during his decade at the helm and two appearances in the Big 12 championship game.

The Cyclones went 8-4 this season and are awaiting their bowl selection on Sunday.

Continue Reading

Sports

Cool it! JMU AD scolds fans for throwing snowballs

Published

on

By

Cool it! JMU AD scolds fans for throwing snowballs

HARRISONBURG, Va. — James Madison athletic director Matt Roan used the public-address microphone to implore Dukes fans to stop throwing snowballs onto the field during the Sun Belt Conference championship game against Troy on Friday night, warning that their actions could cost JMU a penalty.

Roan’s address to the crowd followed an incident that affected the game.

With 4:30 left in the first quarter, Troy’s Evan Crenshaw was nearly hit by a snowball while punting from the end zone with the JMU student section behind him. Crenshaw shanked a 26-yard punt that helped set up the Dukes’ first score, a 40-yard field goal.

Fans in the student section began throwing snowballs during pregame warmups, when the Dukes’ marching band got pelted. They kept it up for most of the first half, despite repeated warnings over the PA system.

Harrisonburg received about 1½ inches of snow Friday, its first measurable snowfall of the season.

No. 19 JMU had an outside shot at making the College Football Playoff field with a win over Troy and a loss by No. 16 Virginia to Duke in Saturday’s Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.

Continue Reading

Sports

No. 1 recruit DT Lamar Brown signs with LSU

Published

on

By

No. 1 recruit DT Lamar Brown signs with LSU

LSU and coach Lane Kiffin closed a busy early signing period with a bang Friday, officially securing the signature of defensive tackle Lamar Brown, ESPN’s No. 1 overall 2026 recruit.

Brown, a 6-foot-5, 285-pound defender from Erwinville, Louisiana, signed his letter of intent on the final day of the three-day period, the program announced, formally joining Kiffin and the Tigers as the program’s first No. 1 overall addition since Leonard Fournette in 2014.

Committed to the program since July, Brown was not initially expected to sign this week following meetings between Brown’s representatives and members of the LSU staff Tuesday.

While Brown remained verbally committed to the program, sources told ESPN that his camp harbored reservations over Kiffin’s to-be-completed coaching staff. Uncertainty hanging over the futures of Tigers interim coach Frank Wilson and defensive coordinator Blake Barker marked a particular concern for Brown, who attends high school on the LSU campus and developed close relationships with the program’s previous staff during his recruitment.

As of Friday afternoon, the Tigers have not publicly announced plans for the program’s defensive staff. The statuses of Wilson and Baker, a reported candidate for multiple head coach openings across the country, remain unclear, too. But according to ESPN sources, Brown and the Tigers progressed toward his signing through talks across Wednesday and Thursday, culminating in the program officially landing his signature Friday afternoon.

Within an impressive Tigers defensive class in 2026, Brown was not alone in initially holding off on signing this week before ultimately submitting the official paperwork.

LSU officially announced the signing of ESPN 300 defensive tackle Richard Anderson (No. 90 overall) on Thursday after questions swirled over his signature on the opening day of the signing period. Top 60 defensive linemen Deuce Geralds (No. 39) and Trenton Henderson (No. 60) each pushed their signings to Friday. Henderson, amid late flip efforts from Auburn and Florida State, gave the Tigers his signature Friday morning. Geralds, ESPN’s No. 2 defensive tackle in 2026, followed in the afternoon, minutes before the program announced Brown’s signing.

For Kiffin, who officially arrived Sunday, Brown’s signature closes LSU’s class of ESPN 300 additions and marks a strong finish to a hectic first week on the recruiting trail with the Tigers.

Uncertainty surrounding Brown and the program’s top defensive pledges hung over early-week commitments from wide receiver Brayden Allen and former Ole Miss pledges J.C. Anderson (No. 165 in the ESPN 300) and Ryan Miret. Pass catcher Corey Barber, another ex-Rebels commit, also signed with the Tigers on Wednesday. LSU also lost five commitments following Kiffin’s arrival, headlined by safety Dylan Purter (No. 266), who flipped to Florida on Thursday.

Kiffin & Co. took some big swings, as well. Sources tell ESPN that the Tigers made late efforts to flip USC tight end signee Mark Bowman (No. 29 overall) and four-star South Carolina quarterback signee Landon Duckworth (No. 186). LSU also attempted to sway No. 1 wide receiver Chris Henry Jr., who affirmed his pledge to Ohio State and signed Friday.

With Brown officially in the fold, the Tigers will close the early signing period with the nation’s No. 14 signing class in ESPN’s latest class rankings for the cycle.

Continue Reading

Trending