WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and his Republican colleagues on the Senate Banking Committee wrote a letter to the Biden Administration’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, calling on him to stop pressuring banks to make energy-related lending commitments. The senators argue those efforts will distort capital allocation, raise energy costs for consumers, and slow economic growth.
“We are concerned by reports you have been pressuring banks to make extralegal commitments regarding energy-related lending and investment activities,” the senators wrote. “If the Administration wants to ban or diminish fossil energy production to achieve environmental policy outcomes, it should not misuse financial regulators. Instead, it should come to Congress and seek to have the law amended. Until then, we strongly urge the Biden Administration to refrain from abusing government power—via executive order, regulatory or supervisory overreach, or informal pressure—to steer lending and investments away from lawful energy businesses.”
The letter aligns with legislation introduced by Senator Cramer called the Fair Access to Banking Act, which would protect fair access to financial services and ensure providers operate in a safe and sound manner. It builds on the Trump Administration’s Fair Access Rule and the Freedom Financing Act which Senator Cramer introduced last Congress. Learn more here.
The letter to John Kerry was signed by each Republican member of the Senate Banking Committee and was also sent to newly confirmed Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler and national bank leaders. Read it here.