By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Republican candidate for Kansas State Treasurer Michael Austin believes that it is important to Kansas that companies are able to make their own decisions about energy investment.
"The Biden administration is threatening citations and regulations on banks that don't invest in renewable energy companies to the extent the White House really wants," Austin said Tuesday. "While this may be fine on the east or the west coast, in the Midwest, there are many coal, oil and natural gas companies that serve as the foundations of local economies."
Austin is citing a letter drafted last month by West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore, also signed by the treasurers of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and South Dakota.
Austin isn't saying that banks shouldn't make their own choices, quite to the contrary.
"This isn't to say banks are not investing in renewable energy," Austin said. "There are plenty of banks that find that renewable energy companies should be a part of that portfolio. Every company has a right to do what they think is best for sustainability or success, however, coal, oil and natural gas are still at the heart of the country's economy."
Kansas is 15th in the country in natural gas production, according to Austin. It's 11th in crude oil production.
"There are plenty of other countries that aren't taking these steps in any way, shape or form," Austin said. "They're the biggest polluters in the world. Yet, the Biden administration wants to, most certainly, hurt other Americans, whereas places like China aren't held to the same standards."
Austin has committed to push back against such administration actions should he be elected to the office. He will face fellow Republican Steven Johnson in the 2022 August primary.