23 state AGs demand top ratings agencies explain ESG-driven downgrades

(The Center Square) – Nearly two dozen state attorneys general are asking the three top ratings agencies to explain their “ESG-driven” downgrades of fossil-fuel companies.

In a letter to the agencies, the 23 attorneys general allege the agencies promote a radical climate agenda.

Executive director of Consumers’ Research Will Hild told The Center Square that ratings agencies – Fitch, Moody’s and S&P – “should be providing objective financial analysis for consumers and investors to rely on, not using their market power to push woke ideology.”

“As the state attorneys general expose in this letter, these ratings groups have been weaponizing their credit ratings in an effort to push a radical ESG agenda,” Hild said.

“Instead of providing analysis through the lens of fiduciary duty and financial prosperity, these woke activists are colluding with UN-backed climate activists and using flawed methodologies to meet arbitrary net-zero and ESG goals,” Hild said.

“T...