{"id":2675465,"date":"2026-10-04T08:21:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T12:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-ags-target-wall-street-big-3-for-punishing-companies-with-bad-credit-for-refusing-to-comply-with-woke-esg\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T08:27:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T12:27:47","slug":"gop-ags-target-wall-street-big-3-for-punishing-companies-with-bad-credit-for-refusing-to-comply-with-woke-esg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-ags-target-wall-street-big-3-for-punishing-companies-with-bad-credit-for-refusing-to-comply-with-woke-esg\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP AGs Target Wall Street Big 3 for Punishing Companies with Bad Credit for Refusing to Comply with Woke ESG"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">40<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgop-ags-target-wall-street-big-3-for-punishing-companies-with-bad-credit-for-refusing-to-comply-with-woke-esg%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2675465&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The content discusses a coalition of Republican state attorneys general urging federal regulators to scrutinize the major credit rating agencies-Moody\u2019s, fitch Ratings, and S&#038;P Global Ratings-for allegedly relying on questionable climate assumptions when determining financial risks. They claim these agencies incorporate ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) factors in ways that may unfairly impact fossil fuel companies, energy-dependent industries, and related governments. The coalition questions whether these ESG-driven rating decisions comply with federal laws and criticizes the use of high-emissions climate scenarios, such as RCP 8.5,which some scientists consider implausible under current trends.They also challenge an estimate by Moody\u2019s projecting $41.4 trillion in potential global economic losses from physical climate risks by 2050, deeming the modeling unreliable due to methodological issues and a retracted study. The attorneys general call for increased clarity and accountability from these agencies, urging them to align their ratings with financial realities rather of ESG agendas. the SEC oversees these agencies and ensures they follow regulations regarding methodology and conflicts of interest.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Republican state attorneys general are asking federal regulators to scrutinize the big three credit rating agencies over allegations they continue relying on questionable climate assumptions when assessing financial risks, the Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">The Montana-led coalition argues in a letter\u00a0to the Securities and Exchange Commission\u2019s (SEC) Office of Credit Ratings that Moody\u2019s, Fitch Ratings and S&#038;P Global Ratings continue incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations in ways that can affect fossil-fuel companies, industries and governments dependent on energy revenues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">The letter, first obtained by the DCNF, follows an earlier effort by 23 state attorneys general demanding the three agencies explain allegedly ESG-driven rating decisions. Republican Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill\u2019s office <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ag.state.la.us\/Article\/499?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">said<\/a> at the time that the coalition was questioning whether the agencies\u2019 ESG policies complied with federal law.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Credit ratings assess a borrower\u2019s ability to repay its debts, meaning a downgrade can increase borrowing costs and make bonds less attractive to some investors. The SEC <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/data-research\/statistics-data-visualizations\/nationally-recognized-statistical-rating-organizations-nrsros?\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recognizes<\/a> Moody\u2019s, Fitch and S&#038;P as nationally recognized statistical rating organizations subject to federal oversight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">The latest letter focuses heavily on an August report from Moody\u2019s examining how heat and water stress could affect businesses and financial institutions. The attorneys general argue Moody\u2019s continued relying on RCP 8.5, short for Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5, a high-emissions climate scenario used to model potential future warming \u2014 even after researchers described that pathway as implausible under current emissions and energy trends.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Moody\u2019s, Fitch, S&#038;P Global and the SEC each did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the DCNF.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Moody\u2019s described RCP 8.5 as one of several modeled pathways used to estimate how severe future physical climate risks could become and said its modeling could help insurers, lenders and investors stress-test their exposures, or gauge how they could perform under adverse conditions. The Moody\u2019s report also considered the lower-emissions RCP 4.5 scenario in portions of its analysis, while using RCP 8.5 for some projections of future U.S. water stress.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Scientists have <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/d41586-020-00177-3?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">debated<\/a> the proper use of RCP 8.5 for years. Researchers writing in Nature previously warned against treating the high-emissions pathway as the most likely \u201cbusiness-as-usual\u201d outcome, while other research has described it as a useful high-end risk scenario rather than a central forecast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">The attorneys general also target a separate Moody\u2019s <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.moodys.com\/web\/en\/us\/insights\/physical-transition-risk\/catastrophic-events-in-an-uncertain-future-a-pending-41-trillion-bill-for-businesses-and-governments-to-resolve.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">estimate<\/a> that physical climate risks could impose roughly $41.4 trillion in economic losses by 2050. Moody\u2019s describes that figure as a potential global economic impact, equivalent to roughly 14.5% of global GDP, while the draft AG letter characterizes it as losses to U.S. GDP.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">The coalition argues the estimate is further compromised because the modeling framework drew from a <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-025-09726-0?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">2024 <\/a><a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-025-09726-0?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">Nature<\/a><a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-025-09726-0?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">  paper<\/a> that was subsequently retracted. The paper\u2019s authors withdrew the study after finding its results were sensitive to problems in underlying economic data and to methodological questions raised after publication.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Credit ratings should reflect financial reality, not an ESG agenda,\u201d Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, told the DCNF. \u201cWhen rating agencies rely on implausible climate scenarios and retracted studies to influence credit decisions, they undermine the integrity of the ratings investors depend on and can drive up the cost of capital for American energy producers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Will Hild, executive director of Consumers\u2019 Research, similarly accused the ratings agencies of continuing to rely on ESG considerations despite previous objections from state officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cThese woke ratings agencies continue to push ESG policies and blatantly ignored calls for the removal of woke ideology from their business practices,\u201d Hild told the DCNF. \u201cInstead of providing legitimate financial analysis for its customers they continue to rely on ESG-driven metrics, even after they have proven to be implausible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">The attorneys general are asking the agencies to explain or reverse ratings they contend were driven by ESG considerations, publish and consistently follow sector-specific methodologies and either eliminate certain ESG-related commitments and consulting conflicts or disclose them to the SEC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">The SEC\u2019s <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/about\/divisions-offices\/office-credit-ratings?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">Office of Credit Ratings <\/a>oversees Moody\u2019s, Fitch, S&#038;P and other nationally recognized statistical rating organizations and examines whether they comply with federal requirements governing methodologies and conflicts of interest. SEC rules require registered rating agencies to maintain procedures governing their methodologies and to disclose and manage specified conflicts.<\/p>\n<div class=\"disclaimer\">\n<p>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter\u2019s byline and their DCNF affiliation. 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