West Virginia restricts more banks with anti-fossil fuel policies from doing business with the state

West Virginia Treasurer Riley Moore announced Monday that four more banks have been added to the state’s “Restricted Financial Institution List” for publicly saying they will refuse, terminate or limit doing business with the fossil fuel industry.

This brings the total number of banks on West Virginia’s list to nine.

“We cannot allow institutions that seek to destroy our state’s critical energy industries and the economic activity they generate to also profit from handling the very taxpayer dollars they seek to diminish," Moore said in a statement emailed to Just The News. "My action today represents our continued commitment to protect state funds from furthering these politically motivated, subjective ESG policies that attempt to cut off financing for our coal, oil and natural gas industries and harm our state.”

In 2022, West Virginia passed a law that authorizes the state treasurer to publish a list of financial institutions that have publicly stated they refuse, terminate or limit doing business with coal, oil or natural gas companies without a reasonable business reason.

In February, Moore sent letters to six institutions, warning them of their potential inclusion on the list, which at that time had five on it.

West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office managed approximately $22 billion in banking transactions in 2023.