(TargetLiberty.org) – A Texas federal judge handed President Joe Biden a legal win after upholding one of the administration’s plans to fight climate change.
In the lawsuit over two dozen Republican-led states had filed against the Labor Department’s rule that would allow retirement plans for employees to take into consideration environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in the decisions made for investments.
Trump-appointed Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who had previously blocked Biden’s attempt to put an end to the “remain in Mexico” immigration policy, and had halted the abortion pill, mifepristone in a different case in April, handed Biden an unexpected win.
Earlier this year Kacsmaryk had opposed an attempt to have the lawsuit regarding the ESG rule moved to a different court, and had rejected the Biden administration’s claims that the Republican-led states had been “judge shopping” when they decided to file the case in Amarillo. Kacsmaryk is currently the only judge in Amarillo.
Kacsmaryk in his ruling in this case sided with the Biden administration arguing that the new investment rule was not violating the Administrative Procedure Act. The rule would still mandate that financial considerations come first, and it does not create a bias favoring ESG strategies.
The opinion released on September 21, noted that while the court did not generally condone ESG investing, ultimately the rule could remain in place.
In February, over two dozen Republican states had pushed for the court to block the rule. As they had argued, the rule would lead to lower investments in the fossil fuel industry and could reduce the revenues their states made through gas and oil extraction.
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