Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen plans to create a senior post at the Treasury Department that will be charged with monitoring alleged risks to the financial system from climate change, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
The newspaper reports that the leading candidate for the new role is Sarah Bloom Raskin, a former deputy Treasury secretary during the Obama administration who also worked at the Federal Reserve Board when it was chaired by Janet Yellen.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Yellen and others fear that more severe weather events could endanger assets collateralizing bank loans.
One danger cited by conservatives is that the position could be used to pressure banks out of providing financing to companies disliked by environmental activists, including fossil fuel companies.
Raskin is married to Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md), one of the House impeachment managers in the trial for former President Donald Trump.