© 2017 The Texas Lawbook.
By Mark Curriden
(June 22) – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is outraged that an elected California official is using his office for political purposes and he is threatening to use Texas taxpayer dollars to sue to stop such outrageous conduct.
Paxton, who almost assuredly has never used his position as Texas Attorney General in a politically motivated manner, says that California Insurance Commissioner David Jones should “cease and desist from requiring insurance companies to publicly disclose investments in fossil fuels.”
In a letter authored by Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter and co-signed by Paxton and officials in 11 other states, the leaders claim that Jones’s Climate Risk Initiative is a purely political endeavor and they threaten to sue if the California official does not put a stop to it.
The California policy forces insurance companies that invest in oil, gas and coal operations to make those interests public. The rule does not prohibit insurance companies from investing in any industry or business sector. The information is then published on the insurance commissioner’s website.
Paxton, in an official press release issued from his state office, said he is prepared to take legal action.
“The threats made by the California Insurance Commissioner will hurt families, businesses and insurance carriers across the nation,” Paxton said. “These requirements are misguided, unrelated to insurance regulation, and are clearly politically driven. We will not stand by while negligent, politically motivated requirements harm the livelihood of thousands of U.S. citizens.”
In the letter, Hunter and Paxton chide the California official for “using your office to promote social causes” which they say “undermines the public perception of your office.”
It is important, according to Paxton, that citizens view their state officials as “neutral regulators” that do not have “partisan agendas.”
Paxton and his predecessor, Greg Abbott, who vigorously support tort reform measures that limit the rights of individuals to sue businesses that harm them, filed a record number of lawsuits against local Texas cities and counties that tried to implement local policies ranging from recycling and pro-environmental efforts to fracking restrictions near residential areas.
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