Don't penalize ag over climate change concerns, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum warns credit union age

BISMARCK — Don’t use climate change as an excuse to make credit unions quit working with farmers and ranchers, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has urged the National Credit Union Association.

The National Credit Union Administration, an independent federal agency that insures deposits at and regulates credit unions akin to how the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation regulates banks, in recent months released its multi-year strategic plans that “outline the NCUA's strategic and performance goals along with the critical factors that affect the achievement of these goals.” Monday, Jan. 24, was the deadline to submit public comment on the proposed strategic plan before the NCUA Board considers it for final adoption.

Both Burgum and Jeff Olson, the CEO of the Dakota Credit Union Association, expressed concern in their public comments about a portion of the NCUA strategic plan that urged credit unions to consider diversifying their clientele if a large portion of the clientele is at risk of suffering a negative impact from climate change. Agriculture was included as an example of an industry that could be impacted.

“Given our administration’s goal of North Dakota becoming a carbon neutral state by 2030, we appreciate NCUA’s concern about climate change,” Burgum wrote to the NCUA Board in a public comment on its draft plan . “However, carbon neutrality can be achieved only through innovation, not regulation — and certainly not by limiting access to credit for agricultural operations with natural carbon storage capacity.”

Read more: https://www.inforum.com/news/dont-penalize-ag-over-climate-change-concerns-north-dakota-gov-doug-burgum-warns-credit-union-agency