Recently, the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down the Energy Discrimination Elimination Act (EDEA) of 2022 as applied to the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) – a ruling that adds to a growing record of Oklahoma prioritizing economic good sense over political convenience.
The EDEA was intended to protect the state’s energy sector, giving the Treasurer’s Office the power to compile a “blacklist” of financial institutions perceived to be boycotting fossil fuels and required public bodies like OPERS to divest from any firm that appeared on it. The Oklahoma Supreme Court’s majority, led by Justice James Edmondson, identified this problem precisely. The EDEA created a “dual purpose” forcing pension managers to serve a political directive alongside their fiduciary duty to members, which the court found irreconcilable with the state’s foundational law.
