Republicans, at least at the state level, may finally be understanding that you don’t beat the left’s encroachments with virtue signaling. That includes the fight against the illiberal machinations of big business.

In the past, we’ve seen credit card companies and banks threaten to not process gun and ammo sales as a way to backdoor their political will without being accountable to voters via an election process. The next front in that battle involves the hysteria surrounding global warming. John Kerry, climate czar for the Biden administration, has been pressuring banks to stop lending to companies that deal with fossil fuels.

Now, Republican treasurers in 15 states are fighting fire with fire.

New: 15 GOP state treasurers are threatening to pull state assets from any banks that accede to John Kerry-led admin efforts to discourage lending to/investment in fossil fuel companies https://t.co/6mORSoLy5U

— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) May 26, 2021

This is the right move. You are never going to convince a bunch of woke, left-leaning CEOs that they shouldn’t do something with faux appeals to principle. All they understand is financial pain, and every legal tool should be used to inflict it until they learn their lesson.

Fossil fuels are the lifeblood of our economy, and that goes far beyond just putting gas in people’s cars. Petroleum products are present in nearly every part of our lives, from energy needs to computer parts. Things like natural gas are also the chief driver in reducing emissions, which is ironic given that’s what the climate change adherents claim to care about.

Some conservatives, especially those who lean toward the libertarian side, will decry this move to punish companies for becoming overtly political in the service of Democrats. They will take the approach that any use of government pressure to stop the abuses of big business is somehow tyranny in and of itself. Those people can scream at the wall at this point because we’ve got real battles to win, not just debates inside think tanks.

Freedom does not become any less crushed if it’s private, big business doing the crushing. Trying to control people without their consent by using the power of large corporations is not capitalism. It’s cronyism. Republicans that recognize that will be equipped to fight the battles that are undeniably coming our way. Republicans that don’t should get out of the way because the rest of us aren’t content with being subjugated by the left under the guise of principle.