Sustainable Finance Newsletter - Top fund firms hit back in Texas

NEW YORK, March 19 (Reuters) - Top U.S. fund firms have been in retreat as Republican politicians have attacked their climate policies, but that changed late on Monday when the largest asset managers filed a motion to dismiss a legal challenge in Texas.

You can read their guns-blazing legal response in this week's main story below. I've also got links to stories about cuts at the Voice of America and barley farmers' fears of tariffs.

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Top fund managers fire back in Texas

BlackRock BLK.N, Vanguard and State Street STT.N asked a federal court in Texas to dismiss a multistate lawsuit accusing the top fund managers of conspiring through climate activism to discourage coal output, with the firms saying the allegations rest on "half-baked and untested" legal theories.

Industry analysts have been watching to see how strongly the companies would push back on what the defendants called a first of its kind suit by Texas and 12 other Republican-led states.

Rutgers Law School professor Michael Carrier told me the filing was "a hard-hitting response." Morrison Foerster Partner Megan Gerking via email called it an effective filing but noted at this stage, "judges often narrow claims or permit plaintiffs to amend their complaint, particularly where the allegations are novel."

So, let's see where this all winds up. You can read my story by clicking here.

Company news

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Western companies that "slammed the door defiantly" when they left Russia at the start of its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 will not be allowed to buy back the businesses they quit for small amounts of money or fill niches that local businesses have taken.

American farmers of barley and other crops could face heavy economic blows if Mexico or other countries issued tariffs or chose other trading partners in response to the back-and-forth tariffs issued by U.S. President Donald Trump. You can read my colleague's dispatch here.

Russia's state gas giant Gazprom has been in rapid decline, dragged down by an almost total loss of European markets after the war in Ukraine ruptured Russia's ties with the West. You can read our in-depth report on its troubles via this link.

On my radar

The California Public Employees' Retirement System sent a letter of rebuttal to climate activists who had criticized its oil company investments. Among other things CalPERS said that while it counts seven oil and gas companies as climate investments, that is based on only a tiny fraction of their total assets. Here's a link to my interview with CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost last December along these lines.

Media broadcaster Voice of America had nearly its entire staff of 1,300 including journalists and producers put on leave over the weekend after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the gutting of its funding.

Climate change has emerged as a dominant stewardship priority , according to a new report from Pensions for Purpose based on interviews with 10 asset owners based in the United Kingdom, plus trustees and consultants. It also found smaller funds are often constrained by limited stewardship resources.