Fink plays to Texas in annual letter, but with a wink to investors

Plus - The elephant in the room for the U.S. offshore wind dilemma

In today’s edition:

— BlackRock’s Larry Fink tried to reconcile with Texas politicians in his annual letter, but couldn’t help pushing this one bullish energy story

— The one major reason the U.S. trails Europe in offshore wind development

— Can climate change be funny? These advocates think they’ve got a hit show — ‘Hot & Toxic’

— Over half of Europeans see global warming as a priority. Is that enough for coming elections?

— The top of the world has become an appalling dump

When it comes to annual investor letters, Larry Fink’s missives from BlackRock BLK 0.00%↑ usually don’t compare to Warren Buffett’s for wit and brevity. You have to look hard to find his messages, but they are always there.

In this year’s letter, released this week, Fink buried the lead several hundred words down in a crafted anecdote about family and retirement savings. The good news is that he’s still bullish on the climate transition, especially energy infrastructure deals.

“In my nearly 50 years in finance, I’ve never seen more demand for energy infrastructure,” Fink wrote.

His caveat was that in energy infrastructure he means all types of energy, including oil and gas, and the carbon capture projects they manage. Far down in the letter he addresses BlackRock’s Texas situation, in which local politicians recently pulled $8.5 billion from BlackRock pension and municipal funds because of the company’s leanings toward environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing.

Fink notes, correctly, that Texas is a major player in renewable energy, comparing it to Germany, but says it needs its oil and gas business, too, to maintain energy security. He discusses the decarbonization efforts at major oil and gas firms as a key area of battle in the climate fight, and decries the wedge that advocates on both sides have driven between fossil fuels and renewables.

“BlackRock has never supported divesting from traditional energy firms. They’re pioneers of decarbonization, too,” he wrote.

When you’re as big as BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with $10 trillion in assets, sometimes it’s best to play both sides of the coin. Fink did that. Fine. But his wink to investors is that the energy revolution is still alive and well.

Don’t forget to contact me directly if you have suggestions or ideas at dcallaway@callawayclimateinsights.com.

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Ever wonder why U.S. offshore wind is so far behind?