A core misunderstanding fuels a recent lawsuit that has made headlines. The Republican attorneys general of Texas and 10 other states have accused some of the nation’s largest asset managers of “colluding” to harm coal companies, claiming falsely that the decline of coal is the result of some coordinated political vendetta rather than simple, demonstrable market economics.

With the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission joining the conversation, it is important to delve into the details and consider market trends over the past few decades.

Coal’s decline in the U.S. did not start with asset managers or so-called “environmental, social and governance” or ESG investment policies. It started decades ago, with the shale gas revolution, when fracking technology unleashed an abundant, cheap and cleaner-burning alternative.

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