Sen.
Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said Monday that he will not vote to confirm
President Biden's pick for a powerful position on the Federal Reserve Board over her criticism of the fossil fuel industry.
In a Monday statement, Manchin said he opposes Biden's nomination of
Sarah Bloom Raskin to serve as the Fed's vice chair of supervision because of his "concerns about the critical importance of financing an all-of-the-above energy policy to meet our nation’s critical energy needs."
Raskin, a former Fed governor and Treasury Department deputy secretary, urged financial regulators and banks to pay closer attention to climate-related financial risks for years before Biden chose her to be the Fed's regulatory chief. She had also warned against making investments in fossil fuel projects and companies, noting the environmental risks and financial volatility within the sector, and opposed the Fed giving emergency loans to fossil fuel companies during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
While Raskin said throughout her confirmation hearing that she would not use the Fed to steer funding away from oil and gas production, Manchin said the views on energy-related financial matters will cost her his support.