BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Attorney General's office has settled with The Vanguard Group, where the investment firm agrees to pay Louisiana and other states nearly $30 million in connection with alleged market manipulation of the coal industry.

According to the AG's office, Louisiana was one of 14 states to file suit against Vanguard and other investment firms, BlackRock and State Street, in 2024. The suit alleged that the triumvirate used ownership stakes in coal producers to "manipulate the price of coal and gain undue profits by decreasing coal production under the guise of environmental, 'green' policies."

The suit further alleges that the groups profited from a manufactured coal scarcity.

So far, a $29.5 million settlement has only been reached with Vanguard, the AG's office noted, with part of the settlement involving cooperation in discovery efforts as the cases against BlackRock and State Street continue.

"ESG and radical green energy scams have no place in Louisiana or this country. This good-faith settlement agreement with Vanguard sends an important signal to other investment firms that may attempt to use their influence to advance their own preferred environmental policies. Our focus will now shift to BlackRock and State Street," Attorney General Liz Murrill said.

The whole settlement can be found here.