Republican senator for Montana Steve Daines has lambasted HSBC over its suspension of Stuart Kirk in the wake of his Miami speech, suggesting the move is indicative of "the same groupthink that led to the 2008 financial crisis".

Writing to HBSC group CEO Noel Quinn, Daines argued that Kirk (pictured) had been suspended pending internal review "for having the temerity to express" the opinion that climate-related financial risk is being misrepresented and suggested the bank had nothing to investigate given reports the presentation was internally approved.

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Daines then suggested the move was made in response to external pressure from "outside parties that may be legally prohibited from influencing the management of [HSBC]".

The senator went on to accuse HSBC, BlackRock and any member of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero as being a promoter of "extreme environmental ideology".

"The financial service industry's lockstep commitment to out-of-mainstream environmental ideology raises serious concerns about whether your industry's susceptibility to groupthink is repeating itself," Daines wrote. "In the early 2000s, your industry assumed that the housing market could never slump nationwide, or that rigorous mortgage underwriting standards were an unnecessary impediment to mortgage volume.

"Now, your industry appears destined to ignore the dangers of the current path until the economy once again suffers the consequences."

Daines described net zero mandates as "exceedingly unpopular", although a 2019 YouGov poll found that 56% of people back the total decarbonisation of the UK economy by 2030 and a 2022 Pew Research Center poll found 69% of Americans supported a transition of the US economy to 100% clean energy by 2050.

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He added there was a "lack of scientific or public consensus" regarding the energy transition, although a joint survey by researchers from the universities of Stuttgart and Cardiff found support for the Paris Agreement was extremely popular, with just 6% of those in the UK opposed to the agreement.

Daines argued that "green ideology" would "inevitably lead to financial losses" and warned HSBC it would be evidence of failure to provide "appropriate risk management".