State Treasurer Curtis Loftis has come out against bullying lenders for a Green New Deal scheme.

Loftis joined 14 other state treasurers opposing President Joe Biden’s attempts to pressure banks and other financial institutions into denying loans to coal, oil and natural gas companies.

“I am strongly opposed to President Biden and his Democratic colleagues’ attempt to force their Green New Deal initiatives through Congress,” Loftis said.

“It’s apparent they don’t have the support needed. Now they’re trying to bully our financial institutions to enact their radical agenda.”

Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry has privately pressured banks to cut off lending for fossil fuel industries, Loftis said.

They wrote Kerry suggesting what they may do to discourage financial institutions from denying capital to the fossil fuel industry. They said they will closely watch which financial institutions bow to pressure.

“We strongly oppose command-and-control economic policies that attempt to bend the free market to the political will of government officials,” they wrote. Restricting lending to would harm economies, resulting in significant job losses.

“The coal, oil, and natural gas industries in our states are vital to our nation’s economy,” they wrote. “These industries provide jobs, health insurance, critical tax revenue and quality of life to families.

“As the Obama Administration’s War on Coal demonstrated, reckless attacks on the fossil fuel industry cut off paychecks for workers and took food off the table for hard-working middle-class families.”