Boycott of Sustainable Businesses May Cost State Taxpayers up to $700 Million

Conservatives pushing anti-sustainable legislation and directives in six states could result in taxpayers wasting hundreds of millions in higher municipal bond interest payments.

The study, a partnership between The Sunrise Project, As You Sow and Ceres, looks at six states that have either passed or will consider bills and initiatives based on a piece of model legislation developed by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), part of a coordinated conservative effort to prop up the fossil fuel industry while putting retirement nest-eggs at risk.

The new data finds that taxpayers in Kentucky, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Missouri could have faced upwards of $708 million per year in additional interest charges on municipal bonds, if Texas-like restrictions had been in place. The higher interest rates are the result of less competition between finance firms for municipal bonds, as a result of the anti-sustainable investing legislation that forces state treasurers to boycott major banks and asset managers that historically have bid on the muni bond issuances.

You can find the media release and link to the study on Ceres website.