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ESG advocacy group launches eight-figure campaign (2024)
| Environmental, social, and corporate governance |
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| • What is ESG? • Enacted ESG legislation • Arguments for and against ESG • Opposition to ESG • Federal ESG rules • ESG legislation tracker • Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's weekly ESG newsletter |
Axios on February 22 reported on the launch of Unlocking America's Future’s (UAF) new eight-figure ESG advocacy campaign aimed at pushing back against ESG opponents:
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A young advocacy group that defends climate-focused investing is launching the next phase of its campaign Thursday. … Unlocking America's Future (UAF) just began its first paid media campaign since announcing a wider eight-figure advocacy push in late 2023. … They hope to parry right-leaning critiques against Wall Street's environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices.[1] |
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Late last year, Politico’s "Playbook” newsletter reported on UAF’s initial campaign announcement and identified some of the group’s key players:
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Unlocking America’s Future is launching an eight-figure campaign led by Zac Petkanas, Josh Schwerin, Erika Gudmundson and Kyle Herrig aimed at protecting 'responsible investing,' also known as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. The nonpartisan group says it will spend more than $10 million dollars on paid media, message testing and other grasstops tactics to 'strike back against well-funded attacks targeting American businesses, investors, and consumers.'[1] |
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Two days after Politico’s item was published, Tim Graham, the executive editor of NewsBusters and director of media analysis for the Media Research Center, argued against Politico’s description of the group as nonpartisan:
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Monday’s Politico 'Playbook' team touted a new 'pro-ESG play.' ESG stands for 'environmental, social, and governance' principles for corporations. The Left forces 'woke' ESG standards on investors. Politico reported a group calling themselves 'Unlocking America’s Future' is launching a $10 million campaign to defend against ESG critics, calling them a 'nonpartisan group.' They mentioned Zac Petkanas, but didn’t note he runs Petkanas Strategies LLC, a Democratic strategic consulting firm. He touts his stints for Hillary Clinton and Harry Reid on Twitter. They mentioned Josh Schwerin, but not his firm Schwerin Strategies. Likewise, on Twitter he touts his service with Clinton, Terry McAuliffe and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. They mentioned Erika Gudmundson, and rinse and repeat: She touts working for Hillary Clinton, for Chelsea Clinton and for the Clinton Foundation.[1] |
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See also
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's ESG newsletter
External links
Footnotes
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