Opinion, Steve Milloy (Washington Examiner) – Wall Street giant BlackRock just added the CEO of Saudi Arabia ’s national oil company, Saudi Aramco, to its board of directors. The New York Times headline announcing the move read, “ BlackRock Forges New Ties With Big Oil ,” giving the impression that BlackRock was reversing course on environmental, social, and governance investing and coming to its senses on fossil fuels.

The exact opposite is the case. This is just the latest chapter in the tragic and ongoing tale of America being sold out by the elites for the economic and geopolitical benefit of foreign competitors.

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Part of Chairman and CEO Larry Fink’s strategy is to reposition BlackRock as oil-friendly by adding the Saudi Aramco CEO to BlackRock’s board. BlackRock and the rest of the ESG cartel have attracted much negative attention from red state attorneys general — attention that Fink is clearly trying to deflect.

But not only is Saudi Aramco not a U.S. oil company, it is actually hostile to the U.S. oil industry and its ability to dominate the global oil market. This should come as no surprise since an energy-independent U.S. means less profit and control for OPEC, of which Saudi Arabia is a founding member. So what we really have with ESG-loving BlackRock joining hands with the anti-U.S. oil Saudi Aramco is a potent merger of foes of the U.S. oil industry.

BlackRock’s scheme is not a novel one. It is already being implemented by Norway. While Norway and its state-owned oil company plan to produce all the oil they can, the state-run Norwegian sovereign wealth fund is pushing the anti-oil ESG agenda with U.S. oil companies, thereby undermining any effort to make Norway less dependent on foreign energy.

With BlackRock, OPEC, and the Biden administration’s crushing regulatory agenda lined up against the U.S. oil industry and its ability to keep oil prices low, America and its economy are in deep trouble.

Adding to the concern should be another problem spotlighted in a recent New York Times op-ed entitled, “ America Can’t Build a Green Economy Without China .” Worse, we are not even trying to build one without communist China. Biden’s climate agenda requires dependence on China’s mines and processes for the necessary metals and minerals. We are already dependent on China for green technology, and our addiction is getting worse with no chance in sight of independence.

The U.S. needs to return to the policies introduced under former President Donald Trump, which helped wean our economy off the global oil market and restore America as a leading energy producer. We cannot afford to rely on nations that are financially or ideologically opposed to U.S. dominance.

Congress recently took an interest in Saudi Arabia’s effort to dominate professional golf. Maybe a hearing or two is in order concerning the four-headed beast at the gates of our economy and security.

Steve Milloy is a senior legal fellow with the Energy and Environment Legal Institute.