Opposition to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investing

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Environmental, social, and corporate governance
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See also: Index of articles about environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)

The term environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) can refer to an investment approach or an approach to corporate decision-making that conforms a company to ideas and goals that ESG investors generally accept. The ESG investment approach involves considering the extent to which corporations conform to certain environmental, social, and corporate governance standards (such as net carbon emission or corporate board diversity goals) and avoiding investments in or otherwise withholding funding from companies that do not meet the standard.

In the context of public policy, ESG refers to the use of non-financial ESG investing criteria in the regulation and management of public funds, including public pensions.

Opponents of ESG investing argue that it reduces investment diversification (which increases portfolio risk), harms financial performance, and contrasts with an investment approach that focuses on the likely maximization of financial returns to the investor. To learn more about the opposition to ESG investing, click here.[1][2][3]

Supporters of ESG investing argue that in the long run, ESG investing will lead to acceptable financial returns. ESG advocates also say that ESG and profit are not mutually exclusive and argue that corporations can and should improve communities and the environment through the adoption of ESG philosophies and approaches.[4][5]

This article documents the various kinds of opposition to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) and the ESG investing movement:

State government activity opposing ESG investing

This section contains a selection of state government activities opposing ESG investing, especially in the management of public funds such as pensions. The section is organized by the type of state office or branch of government. Click a link below to learn more about how different types of state officials are opposing ESG.

Gubernatorial activity against ESG investing

This section tracks a selection of gubernatorial activity opposing ESG investing, including activity related to the divestment of state funds from asset managers that consider ESG criteria in their investment decisions and other support for policies that oppose ESG investing. Click the links below to read the full stories.

  • Florida governor criticizes ESG: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) spoke at a college on February 13, 2023, where he expressed concerns about ESG and discussed government efforts to oppose ESG investing.[12]
  • Florida divests from BlackRock over ESG policies: On December 1, 2022, the state of Florida, at the direction of Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and State Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis, divested funds from BlackRock over its sustainability and ESG policies.[14]
  • Utah officials send letter to S&P over ESG indicators: In late March 2022, S&P Global released a credit indicator report on the state of Utah that went beyond traditional versions of such reports. S&P, among other things, rated corporate ESG preparedness, including an ESG component in its reports on each of the 50 states. On April 20, Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R), Senators Mike Lee (R) and Mitt Romney (R), all of the state’s congressmen, along with its treasurer and attorney general, sent a letter to S&P, arguing that the ESG component of its report was inherently political and therefore unfair.[16]

State financial officer activity against ESG investing

This section tracks a selection of state financial officer (SFO) activities opposing ESG investing. SFO opposition to ESG can include the building of lists of companies that are ineligible to contract with the state due to ESG commitments, the divestment of state funds from certain asset managers that do not solely consider financial factors in their investments, and the writing of letters, opinions, or other guidance documents that discuss an SFO's policy approach opposing ESG. Click the links below to read the full stories.

  • West Virginia treasurer sends letter to financial institutions over ESG practices: West Virginia Treasurer Riley Moore (R) sent a letter to six banks—including Citibank, TD Bank, and HSBC—warning that they may be ineligible for contracts with the state within 45 days unless they showed that they did not illegally boycott fossil fuel companies.[17]
  • State treasurers question independence of BlackRock board members: Daily Mail reported on August 8, 2023, that fifteen state treasurers, with the aid of the State Financial Officers Foundation, sent a letter to BlackRock suggesting that the company’s board members had potential conflicts of interest that could interfere with their ability to make decisions that would benefit shareholders.[19]
  • SFOs send letters and questionnaires inquiring about ESG at firms: Twenty-one state financial officers signed letters on May 15, 2023, that were sent to large asset management firms and two proxy advisory services (Glass-Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services, who combined represent 95% of the proxy advisory business), requesting answers to questions about the use of ESG and the justification for doing so as legal fiduciaries of their clients’ money.[20]
  • West Virginia continues ESG pushback, turns attention to proxy advisory services: West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore (R), one of the first state officials to push back against ESG investing in general and asset management giant BlackRock in particular, did an interview on January 25, 2023, with The Epoch Times in which he discussed his support for a state bill opposing ESG by requiring that publicly owned shares be voted in the best financial interests of pension plan participants and not in line with the recommendations of proxy advisors.[24]
  • Kentucky threatens to divest from 11 banks over ESG policies: On January 2, 2023, Kentucky State Treasurer Allison Ball (R) issued a statement notifying 11 banks that their environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) policies amounted to energy boycotts that harmed the state’s economy according to definitions passed into law in 2022. The statement said the banks had 90 days to stop what Kentucky argued were energy company boycotts or face divestment from the state.[25]
  • Arizona divests from BlackRock over firm’s ESG policies: On December 8, 2022, Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee (R) announced that the state’s Investment Risk Management Committee had completed its review of BlackRock – including Larry Fink’s own letters – and had decided to proceed with removing its funds from BlackRock’s management because of the firm’s ESG positioning.[27]
  • Florida divests from BlackRock over ESG policies: On December 1, 2022, the state of Florida, at the direction of Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and State Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis, divested funds from BlackRock over its sustainability and ESG policies.[28]
  • State Financial Officers Foundation announces campaign opposing ESG: At a semi-annual meeting in Washington, D.C. attended by more than two-dozen state officials, the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) and its state financial officer members held a press conference to announce the launch of a retail-oriented, constituent-targeted ESG campaign and website called “Our Money, Our Values”.[29]
  • Missouri divests BlackRock funds over ESG: On October 18, 2022, Missouri Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick (R) announced that he would pull his state’s funds from BlackRock, Inc.’s asset management in response to the firm’s ESG commitments and what the fund called sustainability investing practices.[30]
  • South Carolina divests BlackRock funds over ESG: On October 9, 2022, South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis (R) confirmed that his state would remove its investments from BlackRock Inc.’s asset management because of the firm’s dedication to ESG and what BlackRock called sustainability investing.[31]
  • Louisiana treasurer announces plan to divest state funds from BlackRock: On October 5, 2022, Louisiana Treasurer John Schroder (R) announced that he had joined a growing number of state public officials who either pulled their state’s investments from BlackRock and other ESG-fund providers or threatened to do so. In his letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, also dated October 5, Schroder said that, in his words, the firm’s “blatantly anti-fossil fuel policies would destroy Louisiana’s economy.”[32][33]

State administrative board activity against ESG investing

This section tracks a selection of state administrative board activity opposing ESG, especially as ESG investing relates to state public pension plans. Click the links below to read the full stories.

  • Indiana contracts with investment advisory firm opposed to ESG: The Indiana Capital Chronicle reported on March 20, 2023, that Indiana, which was among the states trying to limit considerations of ESG in the investment of state funds, contracted with Strive Advisory in November 2022 to help its pension system “strengthen its investment policy statement and proxy voting policies.”[40]

Attorney general activity against ESG investing

This section tracks a selection of attorney general activities opposing ESG, including investigations of companies over ESG concerns, letters to federal agencies over ESG rulemaking, and opinions related to state laws surrounding the definitions of fiduciary responsibilities. Click the links below to read the full stories.

  • State attorneys general sue over SEC climate disclosure rule: State attorneys general in 10 states, led by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R), filed a lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after the agency released regulations requiring publicly traded companies to submit standardized climate risk and carbon emissions disclosures. The suit alleged the regulations were not clearly tied to the SEC's statutory authority and possibly violated the First Amendment.[44]
  • Tennessee sues BlackRock, alleging false statements related to ESG investment considerations: Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti (R) filed a lawsuit against BlackRock on December 18, 2023, alleging that BlackRock made misleading statements regarding the extent to which the company considered ESG factors in investments, preventing consumers from making informed investment choices.[46]
  • State lawyers seek to block U.S. Department of Labor ESG rule: Twenty-five states asked a federal judge in Texas on May 16, 2023, to block the implementation of the Biden Labor Department’s rule on the use of ESG in retirement investment plans that fall under ERISA. The states argue that the Biden rule was not created properly because the previous rule (enacted under the Trump administration) was, in their view, improperly invalidated.[51]
  • Attorneys general move to block BlackRock from buying utility companies: Several Republican state attorneys general filed a motion with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on May 10, 2023, to prevent BlackRock – one of the largest advocates of ESG investing – from using its financial position and prominence to impose ESG policies (like net carbon emission goals) on utility companies.[52]
  • Louisiana attorney general launches ESG investigation: Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (R) launched an investigation on April 25, 2023, into Climate Action 100+, which described itself as “an investor-led initiative to ensure the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters take necessary action on climate change.” Landry’s office said the investigation aimed to determine whether some asset management companies that were part of the initiative violated their fiduciary duties by focusing on ESG investment factors.[53]
  • Tennessee joins open letter opposing ESG: Tennessee joined the original group of state attorneys general on April 10 who signed an open letter to asset managers arguing that those managers had a legal responsibility to seek maximized returns based on financial (not ESG) considerations in the investment of state funds.[54]
  • States send letter to asset managers opposing ESG: Attorneys general from 21 states signed and sent a letter on March 30, 2023, to some of the biggest and best-known asset management companies (AMCs) in the country. The letter threatened state divestment from AMCs that incorporated ESG policies into their investment strategies.[55]
  • State attorneys general continue the pushback against ESG: Bloomberg Law argued on February 13, 2023, that state attorneys general were the new players in the state-level pushback against ESG after state financial officers (like treasurers and auditors) dominated most of the state-level pushback in 2022.[56]
  • State attorneys general sue SEC over ESG fund disclosure rules: Texas and three other states filed a lawsuit in February 2023 against a Securities and Exchange Commission rule requiring funds to disclose additional information about their votes on ESG shareholder proposals and requiring other corporate meeting disclosures related to ESG.[57]
  • States sue Biden administration over ESG in retirement plans: Twenty-five states announced on January 26, 2023, that they had filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration alleging that, in their view, the Department of Labor’s rule allowing for the consideration of ESG factors in Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)-governed retirement investments increased portfolio risk and violated the law.[58]
  • State attorneys general file motion to oppose Vanguard utility company stock purchases: On November 29, 2022, 13 Republican state attorneys general filed a motion asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to hold a hearing on ESG-mutual-fund player Vanguard’s plans to purchase large numbers of shares in public utility stocks. The states said they were concerned that, as an ESG advocate, Vanguard might engage in environmental activism with its stakes in the utilities.[61]
  • 19 state attorneys general announce investigation into ESG investing practices of six banks: Fox Business reported on October 19, 2022, that attorneys general from 19 states announced that they were launching an investigation into the involvement of six large American banks with the United Nations’ Net-Zero Banking Alliance. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt (R) said, “We are leading a coalition investigating banks for ceding authority to the U.N., which will only result in the killing of American companies that don’t subscribe to the woke, climate agenda.”[62]
  • Texas joins investigation over S&P’s use of ESG in credit ratings: On September 28, 2022, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxon (R) announced that he and his state had joined in a multi-state investigation of S&P and its use of ESG factors in creating credit ratings, an issue that was first highlighted in April by Utah Treasurer Marlo Oaks (R). The press release from Paxon’s office read as follows:[63]
  • 18 states join Missouri attorney general investigation over Morningstar ESG: Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt (R) began an investigation of Morningstar, Inc. and its ESG-ratings subsidiary, Sustainalytics, for alleged consumer protection violations. Specifically, Schmitt’s scrutiny focused on accusations that Sustainalytics used sources in developing and implementing its ESG ratings that violated state laws prohibiting discrimination against Israeli companies. Schmitt's office announced that it had been joined in its inquiry by attorneys general in 18 other states.[65]
  • Kentucky’s attorney general says ESG is inconsistent with Kentucky law: Kentucky Treasurer Allison Ball (R) asked Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R), about ESG, specifically, “Whether 'stakeholder capitalism' and 'environmental, social, and governance' investment practices in connection with the investment of public pensions funds" were "consistent with Kentucky law governing fiduciary duties.” On May 26, 2022, the Attorney General’s office replied, saying ESG was inconsistent with fiduciary responsibility in the state.[66]
  • Louisiana attorney general issues guidance opposing ESG investing in state pensions: Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (R) issued guidance in August 2022 arguing that asset managers like BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street violated their fiduciary duties under state law through their ESG commitments.[69]

Agriculture commissioner activity opposing ESG

This section tracks a selection of agriculture commissioner activities opposing ESG, including investigations of companies over ESG effects on agriculture, letters to banks over ESG activities, and studies on the economic impacts of ESG. Click the links below to read the full stories.

  • State agriculture commissioners join ESG pushback: Agriculture commissioners from 12 states sent a letter on January 29, 2024, to the heads of six banks, arguing that ESG efforts to promote net-zero carbon policies would hurt farmers and inflate consumer food prices.[70]

Secretary of state activity against ESG investing

This section tracks a selection of secretary of state activities opposing ESG, including statements and arguments from the officials. Click the links below to read the full stories.

  • Wyoming secretary of state joins ESG pushback: During a meeting of the State Loans and Investments Board on April 6, 2023, Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray (R) said he opposed ESG and would do whatever he could, given his position, to oppose it.[71]

State legislative activity against ESG investing or woke capitalism

This section lists noteworthy examples of legislative activity or activity conducted by legislators opposing ESG investing as well as the different types of legislative approaches that hinder ESG investing identified by Ballotpedia across the 50 states. Click the links in the following sections to read the full stories.

Noteworthy legislative activity against ESG investing

  • Arkansas laws opposing ESG take effect: Two new state laws in Arkansas creating an oversight committee to develop a list of companies using ESG in investment or boycott decisions took effect August 1, 2023.[73]
  • Alabama Senate advances bill opposing ESG boycotts: The Alabama State Senate on May 18, 2023, passed a bill that proposed prohibiting state contracts with businesses that boycotted certain companies and industries (like fossil fuel or mining companies) based on ESG criteria.[78]
  • Alabama Senate committee advances bill opposing ESG: The Alabama Senate Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development overrode objections from the state’s bankers and Democrats and advanced an ESG bill that proposed preventing state entities from doing business with financial companies that boycotted specific sectors of the economy.[79]
  • Kansas bill opposing ESG becomes law: Gov. Laura Kelly (D) announced on April 24, 2023, that she would not veto a bill aimed at opposing the influence of ESG in state investments, meaning the law would be enacted.[82]
  • Florida advances bill opposing ESG: The Florida Senate passed a bill on April 19, 2023, that proposed prohibiting the state and local governments from using ESG in debt financing and investing. The bill advanced to Governor Ron DeSantis (R) for consideration.[83]
  • South Carolina House advances bill opposing ESG: A bill in South Carolina that proposed requiring the state pension system to consider only pecuniary factors in its investments and to exercise its shareholder proxy rights passed the state House on April 13, 2023, and advanced to the Senate.[84]
  • Kansas bill opposing ESG passes legislature: Kansas lawmakers approved a bill on April 6, 2023, prohibiting ESG considerations in public pension investments. Some measures that were proposed, like certain restrictions on private ESG investing and on public investments in foreign companies, did not make it into the final bill. The bill was sent to the governor for consideration.[85]
  • Anti-ESG bill advances out of Indiana Senate committee: The Indiana Senate Pensions and Labor Committee advanced a bill April 5, 2023, that proposed prohibiting ESG considerations in public investments. The Senate bill contained several exemptions that did not appear in the bill when it was first introduced. Some suggested the changes would water down the legislation.[86]
  • Utah legislators discuss plans to oppose ESG: The Salt Lake Tibune reported on February 24, 2023, that Utah legislators last week voiced their frustrations with ESG investment tactics and pledged to oppose what Rep. Ken Ivory (R) described as “an effort to weaponize capital.”[92]
  • Indiana lawmakers join ESG pushback: Members of the Indiana General Assembly’s House Financial Institutions Committee on February 2, 2023, passed a bill to require the state to remove all pension funds from management by financial firms that supported ESG or considered ESG criteria in investments.[93]
  • Texas state senators hold hearings for two of the three biggest ESG asset managers: The Texas Senate held hearings on ESG, fossil fuel boycotts, and other related investment and banking matters. The hearings featured, among others, representatives from BlackRock and State Street, two of the three largest passive asset management firms. Kevin Stocklin, a writer at the Epoch Times, penned a news analysis arguing that the memberships of both asset managers in organizations like the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative require them to use their shares to compel companies towards environmental goals, even though representatives from both companies said in the hearings that they did not participate in such activities:[94]

State legislative approaches opposing ESG investing

This section only tracks legislation and reform approaches that have been introduced in the states. All six major types of reform proposals opposing ESG investing that Ballotpedia has tracked from policy advocacy groups have been introduced in state legislatures. Click the links below for more information on each approach:

State government litigation

This section tracks activity in state courts opposing ESG mandates. For example, if a judge strikes down a state law requiring businesses in a state to meet certain diversity requirements, it may appear here. Click the links below to read the full stories.

  • California corporate diversity law ruled unconstitutional: On September 30, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed Assembly Bill 979, which added a section to the California Corporate Code. The section mandated that every corporation in the state had to have at least one person of a racial or sexual minority on its board of directors by the end of 2021. The law was challenged in court and ruled unconstitutional.[101]

Federal government activity opposing ESG investing

This section tracks a selection of federal government activities opposing ESG investing. Federal opposition to ESG includes congressional oversight of ESG mandates from regulators like the SEC, opposition to laws and regulations that force diversity or ESG reporting requirements on businesses, opposition to ESG investment considerations in the management of ERISA-governed pension plans, and investigations into banks and officials that support ESG. Click the links below to read the full stories.

  • House Republicans continue pushback against ESG considerations in retirement plans: House Republicans again pushed back on the Biden administration’s rule allowing ESG considerations in investments governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on the matter on November 7. The Republicans on the committee released a statement after the hearing arguing that, in their view, opposing ESG was important for maximizing retirement savings.[105]
  • House Judiciary Committee subpoenas ESG supporters: The House Judiciary Committee on November 1, 2023, subpoenaed organizations that supported ESG to investigate whether the groups had violated antitrust laws, according to the committee, including As You Sow and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ).[106]
  • House GOP passes four more bills opposing ESG out of committee: House Republicans on September 14, 2023, passed four ESG bills out of the Education and Workforce Committee, bringing the total number of ESG bills passed out of committee at that point in 2023 to seven. The move followed the lead of the House Financial Services Committee, which advanced its own slate of bills opposing ESG in August 2023.[108]
  • House Republicans consider next ESG actions: House Republicans held hearings, issued statements, and passed out of committee various bills related to ESG in July 2023. The discussion turned in September 2023 to how they intended to move forward with their plans to oppose ESG.[109]
  • House Judiciary Committee requests ESG documents from California pension system: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) requested documents in late 2022 from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and Ceres, a nonprofit group that advised CalPERS on environmental matters. The committee was seeking information about CalPERS’ ESG efforts and the effect they had on investments and returns. Bloomberg reported on August 17, 2023, that CalPERS had been complying with the request, turning over thousands of pages of documents in the preceding months.[110]
  • Congressmen send letters requesting ESG information from Big Three asset managers: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), along with Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Dan Bishop (R-N.C.), sent letters to the Big Three passive asset management firms – BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard – on July 6, 2023, requesting information about their efforts to combat climate change through ESG. Jordan said such efforts had the potential to violate antitrust laws.[114]
  • House GOP working group issues ESG agenda: The Republican ESG House Working Group issued a memo on June 23, 2023, detailing its agenda for the 118th Congress (2023-24), which focused on increasing oversight of proxy voting and large asset management firms.[115]
  • House Republican introduces bill opposing ESG in retirement funds: Congressman Andy Barr (R, Ky.) introduced a bill on June 21, 2023, opposing the Biden Labor Department’s rule allowing the use of ESG in retirement plan investments. Both chambers previously passed a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution overturning the Labor Department rule, but President Joe Biden (D) vetoed that legislation. Congressman Barr introduced the bill in response.[116]
  • House Republicans hold ESG hearing: On June 6, 2023, the House Oversight Committee held a hearing on ESG and the risks that its Republican-led members believed it posed to the nation’s financial infrastructure.[117]
  • House Oversight Committee holds ESG hearing: The House Oversight Committee on May 10, 2023, held a hearing on ESG. Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) criticized ESG in his opening statement. Among other things, Chairman Comer said that he intended to hold more oversight hearings to investigate ESG policy.[120]
  • NCPPR sues the SEC, alleging bias: The National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), a nonprofit organization, on April 28, 2023, filed a lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), alleging that the Commission was biased against NCPPR because the organization filed shareholder proposals that were opposed to ESG.[121]
  • House fails to overturn veto of ESG legislation: The U.S. House of Representatives on March 23, 2023, failed in its attempt to overturn President Joe Biden’s (D) veto of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution Congress had sent to his desk that sought to block a Labor Department rule permitting ESG considerations in retirement plans.[123]
  • Critics in Congress blame ESG for Silicon Valley Bank failure: California regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) on March 10, 2023, making it the second-largest bank failure in American history at the time. In the wake of the collapse and the fear of contagion, some in politics and the media criticized the bank’s loans to ESG-related companies and its in-house ESG policies. For example, Congressman James Comer (R-Ky.), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said SVB was “one of the most woke banks” in America.[125]
  • Former President Trump joins opposition to ESG: Former President Donald Trump (R) released a video on February 24, 2023, confirming his opposition to ESG. In the video, Trump said he wanted to see what he viewed as political considerations kept away from Americans’ retirement investments.[129]
  • SEC commissioner shares ESG concerns: SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda on January 27, 2023, gave a speech in which he addressed what he viewed as the failures of ESG. Some analysts claimed that Uyeda’s remarks put forth a legislative and legal roadmap for ESG opponents to follow.[133]
  • Congress makes plans to lead federal opposition to ESG in 2023: From state treasurers divesting pension and operating funds from BlackRock and other ESG providers to state attorneys general investigating the same providers over the impact of ESG on assorted policy matters, state officials led the pushback against environmental, social, and corporate governance investing in 2022. But the shift in control of the House of Representatives after the 2022 election had Republican elected officials making plans to increase their visibility and activity opposing ESG at the federal level as well.[134]
  • Republicans map out their agenda on ESG and antitrust: Some members and committees started laying out their ESG agendas ahead of the 118th Congress. Among those were members of the Judiciary Committee, who wanted to understand better how ESG and ESG-related organizations fit into the existing body of antitrust legislation and regulation.[135]
  • House Financial Services Committee members plan legislation on ESG and ERISA-governed pension plans: House Financial Services Committee members congressmen Andy Barr (R-Ky.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) launched an effort to address one of the issues at the heart of the intersection of the federal government with ESG-world, namely the question of ESG usage in ERISA (the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974)-governed retirement plans. In 2020, the Trump Administration’s Department of Labor issued a rule limiting the use of ESG factors in ERISA-governed plans and only allowed such considerations if investment managers needed to decide between otherwise equally financially sound investments. Early in the Biden presidency, that rule was overturned and replaced by an ESG-friendly rule. Barr and Braun introduced legislation to oppose the Biden Labor Department’s rule:[136]

Intellectual and scholarly opposition to ESG and the ESG investing movement

This section tracks a selection of books, editorials, academic and scholarly articles, think tank white papers, and other intellectual activity and works opposing ESG investing. Click a link below to jump to a section:

Books

This section tracks a selection of books opposing or arguing against ESG investing. Click the links below for more information on each book.

  • Capitalist Punishment: How Wall Street is Using Your Money to Create a Country You Didn’t Vote For (2023) is a book by entrepreneur and political commentator Vivek Ramaswamy pushing back against President Joe Biden's (D) support for policies promoting ESG investing.[142]
  • Sustainable: Moving Beyond ESG to Impact Investing (2022) is a book by Terrence Keeley, a former BlackRock senior adviser, to express his concerns with the ESG investing model.[143]

Editorials, op-eds, and columns

This section tracks a selection of editorials, op-eds, and columns opposing or arguing against ESG investing.

  • The Political Forum Institute: "The GOP’s ESG Strategy"': Stephen Soukup, an ESG opponent and the author of The Dictatorship of Woke Capital, argued that some House Republicans were, in his view, already planning for Chevron’s reversal and preparing for a larger congressional role in SEC oversight.[145]
  • VoxEU: "Smoke and mirrors: A look inside ESG fund portfolios": Gianpaolo Parise and Mirco Rubin, professors from the EDHEC Business School in France, examined the portfolios of investment funds that claimed to consider ESG factors in their investments. The authors argued that many such funds were misleading regulators and clients about their holdings. The paper called the practice of overstating, in their view, ESG investment commitments “Green Window Dressing.”[146]
  • Financial Post: "Terence Corcoran: ‘Woke’ ESG regulations leading to policy chaos with worst yet to come": In a piece for Canada’s Financial Post, markets/finance writer Terence Corcoran argued that, while it was easy to talk like an advocate of ESG, global ESG reporting standards would, in his view, make business and markets more difficult and complicated.[147]
  • VettaFi Advisor Perspectives: "Aswath Damodaran: It’s Time to Retire the ESG Concept": At Morningstar's 2023 annual conference, Aswath Damodaran, a professor of finance at NYU’s Stern School of Business and ESG opponent, criticized ESG in a talk.[148]
  • Timothy M. Doyle: "ESG: 'Doing Good or Sounding Good?'" :Timothy M. Doyle, a senior advisor at the Bipartisan Policy Center, interviewed Aswath Damodaran, professor of corporate finance and valuation at the NYU Stern School of Business and "one of the foremost academic critics of ESG.” Doyle published highlights from the conversation on November 22, 2022.[149]
  • The Wall Street Journal: "Sam Bankman-Fried Becomes an ESG Truth-Teller": On November 17, 2022, The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board turned comments from FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried criticizing ESG into an editorial.[150]
  • Rupert Darwall: "Proposed climate rule is bigger, badder deal than Manchin-Schumer climate bill": On October 15, 20222, The Hill carried a guest editorial by Rupert Darwall, a climate author and researcher and senior fellow at the RealClear Foundation. In it, Darwall argued that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed environmental disclosure rules would be bigger, more expensive, and more intrusive than proponents argued.[151]
  • Derek Kreifels: "ESG Cancel Culture Comes for State Financial Officers": On October 8, 2022, Derek Kreifels, the Chief Executive Officer of the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) appeared in RealClearPolitics to defend state treasurers who opposed ESG and to defend his organization against charges that it was spreading misinformation on those treasurers’ behalf.[152]
  • Hans Taparia: "One of the Hottest Trends in the World of Investing Is a Sham": On September 29, 2022, in a New York Times guest essay, Hans Taparia, a clinical associate professor at the New York University Stern School of Business, argued that ESG could benefit markets, investors, and stakeholders but that its practitioners were preventing that from happening. Taparia concluded that the system needed changed. “The current system,” he wrote, “needs an overhaul. Reform may not be as kind to corporate America, but it would make it easier to invest in the future of our society and planet.”[153]
  • Allen Mendenhall: "Post-ESG era for corporations, investment nears": In an opinion published on Fox News, Allen Mendenhall, an associate dean and Grady Rosier Professor in the Sorrell College of Business at Troy University, made the case that large asset management firms focused too much on sustainability and other ESG criteria and were doing a disservice to their clients and behaving unethically.[154]
  • The Federalist: The ‘ESG’ Scam Rates Slave-Using Chinese Firms Higher Than Clean American Energy Producers: In a June 28, 2022, piece published by The Federalist, Chuck Devore, a conservative commentator and the vice president of national initiatives at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, compared ratings issued by ESG giant MSCI for American companies and those issued for Chinese companies. Devore argued that his comparison showed a discrepancy that favored Chinese companies and, in his view, betrayed the spirit at the heart of the ESG movement.[155]
  • Wall Street Journal: “The ESG Investing Backlash Arrives”: On August 15, 2022, The Wall Street Journal published an editorial titled, “The ESG Investing Backlash Arrives,” which featured state AGs’ efforts to push back against BlackRock’s ESG program and the rise of “post-ESG” investment vehicles like Strive Asset Management.[156]
  • George Will argues against ESG: On June 22, 2022, conservative newspaper columnist George Will used his Washington Post column to address ESG and stakeholder capitalism.[157]
  • David Bahnsen writes about NYU finance professor Aswath Damodara's opposition to ESG: In an article that accompanied David Bahnsen's National Review-produced podcast with NYU finance professor Aswath Damodaran, Bahnsen wrote about “A few points I find worth highlighting for those interested in a deeper dive on the subject [of ESG],” including.[158]
  • Vivek Ramaswamy responds to proposed Biden administration ESG rule and potential impact on retirement plans: On July 19, 2022, Vivek Ramaswamy, the author, entrepreneur, and executive chairman of Strive Asset Management, and Alex Acosta, the former Trump administration Secretary of Labor wrote a piece for the Wall Street Journal in which they made the case that the Biden Administration’s plans for a rule on ESG investments in retirement plans were likely, in their view, to be problematic for investors and create a tax on retirement accounts. The two wrote the following.
  • New York Post: "The New York Times’ cluelessness just hit a new high": On August 5, the New York Times ran an investigative report on the people and organizations that it argued were, in its words, weaponizing public offices to push back against ESG.[159] On August 7, 2022, the New York Post responded with an editorial critiquing its crosstown rival, declaring that “The New York Times’ cluelessness just hit an astounding new high.”[160]

Scholarly articles

This section tracks a selection of scholarly articles opposing or arguing against ESG investing.

  • SSRN: "ESG Ratings of ESG Index Providers": This research paper from Columbia Business School argues that a number of companies that earn a significant portion of their revenue from ESG rating services tend to rank businesses with better stock performance more favorably on ESG indexes. The researchers’ conclusions suggest that MSCI—a leading ESG rating service—has a strong financial incentive that impacts its ESG ratings.[161]
  • Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University: "ESG Ratings: A Compass without Direction": On August 4, 2022, David Larcker and Brian Tayan of Stanford, Edward Watts of the Yale School of Management, and Lukasz Pomorski of AQR Capital Management published a paper examining the reliability and effectiveness of ESG ratings. The paper, titled “ESG Ratings: A Compass without Direction,” found that ratings tended to fall short of their claims on both counts.[162]
  • European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI): "Is History Repeating Itself? The (Un)Predictable Past of ESG Ratings": In a press release late June 2022, the Sloan School of Management at MIT touted a paper co-authored by the school’s Florian Berg that purported to show that positive ESG return-on-investment was less about actual returns and more about retroactive fiddling with ESG scores.[163]
  • Harvard Business Review: “An Inconvenient Truth About ESG Investing”: In late March, the Harvard Business Review published a piece by Sanjai Bhagat, the Provost Professor of Finance at the University of Colorado. Whereas most finance-derived critiques of ESG had focused on the questionable nature of the investment technique’s promise to deliver better-than-market returns, Bhagat focused instead on its capacity to effect actual environmental or social change.[164]

Think tank activity

This section tracks a selection of think tank white papers and initiatives opposing or arguing against ESG investing.

  • Buckeye Institute argues ESG hurts farmers and consumers: The Buckeye Institute—a Columbus, Ohio-based think tank—published a report February 7, 2024, arguing that ESG hurts farmers and agriculture and drives up the prices of food and other consumer goods.[165]
  • American Accountability Foundation reports on new pushback against ESG opposition: The American Accountability Foundation—a nonprofit opposing ESG—penned a report suggesting that some ESG supporters were aiming to push back against the ESG opposition movement through corporate resolutions that proposed revoking business support for conservative nonprofits, think tanks, and other organizations.[166]
  • Heritage Foundation launches an initiative against ESG: The Heritage Foundation, one of the oldest conservative think tanks in Washington, D.C., decided to launch an initiative to fight back against ESG investing. The move was announced on September 1, 2022.[167]

Notable media coverage of opposition to the ESG investment movement

This section tracks a selection of news stories that cover opposition to or discuss pushback against the ESG investing movement. Click the links below to read the full stories on the publisher's website.

  • National Review: "ESG: BlackRock’s Hard Place": On November 15, 2022, Andy Puzder, the former CEO of CKE Restaurants and a visiting fellow at The Heritage Foundation, wrote in National Review that leading ESG asset management firm BlackRock was facing pressure from Republican states to deemphasize its ESG investing strategy and focus on investment performance. At the same time, Democratic states were pressuring the company to continue with its ESG investing strategy.[168]
  • The Wall Street Journal: "Farm Groups Rally Against SEC Proposal to Report Climate Data": On October 29, 2022, the Wall Street Journal reported that farmers and agricultural companies were pushing back against a climate disclosure rule the SEC proposed. Trade groups including the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Corn Growers Association argued that, in their view, the imposition of greenhouse gas disclosure requirements would harm America’s farms and agricultural capacity.[169]
  • Wall Steet Journal: "Investors Balk at Tough Climate Proposals: 2022 Proxy Voting Roundup": For a variety of reasons—​​including new SEC rules and an ongoing interest in ESG—American companies faced a record number of environmental and social-focused shareholder proposals during the 2022 annual-meeting season. But despite the record number of proposals—or, perhaps, because of it—shareholders overall were less likely to support such initiatives than they were last year.[174]

Asset Management Companies established in opposition to ESG and the ESG investing movement

This section tracks asset management companies established in opposition to ESG and the ESG investing movement. Such companies generally pledge to only consider financial factors in their investment decisions. Click the links below to read the full stories.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ NPR, "How ESG investing got tangled up in America's culture wars", September 12, 2022
  2. ↑ Wall Street Journal, "ESG and the ‘Long-Run Interests’ Dodge", September 29, 2022
  3. ↑ Wall Street Journal, "An ESG Champion Stumbles: The California Public Employees’ Retirement System posts a decade of lackluster returns.", September 22, 2022
  4. ↑ CNBC, "Lauren Taylor Wolfe says it’s just too risky for investors to ignore ESG amid recent pushback", September 23, 2022
  5. ↑ CNBC, "There’s an ESG backlash inside the executive ranks at top corporations", September 29, 2022
  6. ↑ Florida Politics, "Ron DeSantis blames high insurance costs on ‘ESG’, accessed December 19, 2023
  7. ↑ Reuters, "DeSantis signs sweeping anti-ESG legislation in Florida," accessed May 12, 2023
  8. ↑ NH Journal, "Sununu Steps Up Anti-ESG Fight With Executive Order," accessed April 20, 2023
  9. ↑ The Epoch Times, "Kentucky Governor Signs Bill Banning ESG Investment in Public Pensions," accessed April 7, 2023
  10. ↑ The Hill, "DeSantis, 18 states to push back against Biden ESG agenda," accessed March 27, 2023
  11. ↑ Office of the Florida Governor, "Governor Ron DeSantis Announces Legislation to Protect Floridians from the Woke ESG Financial Scam," accessed February 23, 2023
  12. ↑ WFLA 8, "DeSantis announces new legislation to ban ESG, ‘woke’ banking in Florida," accessed February 16, 2023
  13. ↑ Montana Office of the Governor, "Governor Gianforte, Board of Investments Block ESG Investing of State Funds," accessed January 25, 2023
  14. ↑ Financial Times, "Florida to pull $2bn from BlackRock in spreading ESG backlash," December 1, 2022
  15. ↑ Fox News, "DeSantis announces plan to combat ESG influence in Florida," July 27, 2022
  16. ↑ Bloomberg, "Utah Blasts S&P for ‘Politicized’ State ESG Indicators," April 21, 2022
  17. ↑ PoliticoPro, "West Virginia seeks to add six firms to boycott list, expanding ESG backlash," accessed March 6, 2024
  18. ↑ Washington Examiner, "South Carolina announces state is divesting from Disney over Twitter spat," accessed December 19, 2023
  19. ↑ Daily Mail, "EXCLUSIVE: GOP finance chiefs demand answers from BlackRock over ESG 'woke capitalism' agenda and iffy trades in coal, China, and climate change," accessed August 20, 2023
  20. ↑ Breitbart, "State Financial Officers Demand Answer on Assets Managers, Advisory Firms Approach to Shareholder Proposals," accessed May 28, 2023
  21. ↑ Fox Business, "Oklahoma bans more than a dozen woke banks from doing business with the state," accessed May 12, 2023
  22. ↑ Bloomberg, "Texas Has a Warning for Its Pensions: Sever Ties With BlackRock," accessed March 3, 2023
  23. ↑ Daily Caller, "Oklahoma Treasurer Presses Financial Institutions To Say Whether They’re Boycotting Energy Firms," February 1, 2023
  24. ↑ The Epoch Times, "West Virginia Targets Proxy Voting in Fight Over ESG," accessed February 6, 2023
  25. ↑ Fox Business, "Republican state puts banks on notice over wokeness: 'Won’t be tolerated,'" January 3, 2023
  26. ↑ Fox Business, "ESG fallout: BlackRock CEO Larry Fink should resign, says state treasurer," December 9, 2022
  27. ↑ Fox Business, "Arizona divesting funds from BlackRock over ESG push," December 11, 2022
  28. ↑ Financial Times, "Florida to pull $2bn from BlackRock in spreading ESG backlash," December 1, 2022
  29. ↑ Our Money Your Values, accessed November 22, 2022
  30. ↑ Fox Business, "Missouri latest state to divest from BlackRock over ESG initiatives: 'Woke political agenda,'" October 18, 2022
  31. ↑ Washington Examiner, "South Carolina to divest $200 million from BlackRock over 'leftist world view,'" October 1, 2022
  32. ↑ Office of the Louisiana State Treasurer, "Letter to Larry Fink," accessed October 14, 2022
  33. ↑ Fox Business, "Louisiana divests from BlackRock over ESG policies: 'Would destroy Louisiana’s economy,'" October 5, 2022
  34. ↑ CNBC, "Texas accuses 10 financial companies, including BlackRock, of ‘boycotting’ energy companies and orders state pension funds to divest from holdings," August 25, 2022
  35. ↑ RealClearMarkets, "Federal Agencies and 'Woke' Corporations Partner to Evade Accountability, "June 2, 2022
  36. ↑ West Virginia State Treasurer, "Treasurer Moore Publishes Restricted Financial Institution List," July 28, 2022
  37. ↑ The Center Square, "Missouri Treasurer pleads for legislature to address ESG influence on public pensions," July 16, 2022
  38. ↑ Bloomberg, "West Virginia Blasts S&P ESG Scoring as ‘Politically Subjective’," April 27, 2022
  39. ↑ Cowboy State Daily, "Wyoming Finalizes Rules Against ESG’s ‘Woke Clown Show’ In State Business," accessed August 14, 2023
  40. ↑ Indiana Capital Chronicle, "Indiana pension system contracts with conservative anti-ESG firm," accessed April 7, 2023
  41. ↑ Montana Office of the Governor, "Governor Gianforte, Board of Investments Block ESG Investing of State Funds," accessed January 25, 2023
  42. ↑ New York Times, "DeSantis Claims Win in Campaign Against E.S.G.," August 25, 2022
  43. ↑ Pension & Investments, "Arizona State Board takes anti-ESG stance on investment of asset pools," September 2, 2022
  44. ↑ Bloomberg Law, "Ten States Sue to Block the SEC’s Emissions Disclosure Rules (3)," March 6, 2024
  45. ↑ Morningstar, "Texas AG Bars Barclays From Municipal Bond Underwriting Due to ESG Commitments — Update," accessed February 1, 2024
  46. ↑ Attorney General of Kentucky, "Tennessee Sues BlackRock in First-of-its-Kind Consumer Protection Suit over ESG Considerations," accessed February 6, 2024
  47. ↑ Reuters, "Republican-led US states appeal ruling allowing Biden ESG investing rule," accessed November 7, 2023
  48. ↑ The Daily Wire, "Attorneys General Warn Financial Institutions Of Antitrust Violations Over Climate Activism," September 14, 2023
  49. ↑ Politico, "GOP attorneys general tee off on large corporations over diversity policies," accessed July 23, 2023
  50. ↑ Wall Street Journal, "ESG Defenders Pose as ‘Free Market’ Disciples," accessed June 2, 2023
  51. ↑ Reuters, "Republican-led states move to block Biden ESG investing rule," accessed May 28, 2023
  52. ↑ The Hill, "Republican states move to block giant asset manager’s ESG push for utility companies," accessed May 18, 2023
  53. ↑ Washingotn Examiner, "Louisiana announces ESG investigation into major climate fund," accessed May 4, 2023
  54. ↑ The Chattanoogan, "Attorney General Skrmetti Joins Coalition Warning Asset Managers Over ESG Investments," accessed April 13, 2023
  55. ↑ Fox News, "21 states threaten banks with legal action over woke policies: 'Stay in your lane,'" accessed April 7, 2023
  56. ↑ Bloomberg Law, "ESG Top of Mind as New State Attorneys General Flex Powers (1)," February 13, 2023
  57. ↑ Bloomberg Law, "SEC Rebuffs ESG Vote Reporting Rules Challenge Led by Texas," accessed February 6, 2024
  58. ↑ Fox Business, "25 states hit Biden admin with lawsuit over climate action targeting Americans' retirement savings," January 26, 2023
  59. ↑ National Review, "AGs Pressure Advisory Firms to Ditch ESG, Alleging Wrongdoing," accessed January 25, 2023
  60. ↑ Bloomberg Law, "West Virginia AG Seizes on ESG Wars With Eye on Higher Office," January 3, 2023
  61. ↑ Fox Business, "Republican states take drastic measure in latest salvo against ESG movement," November 29, 2022
  62. ↑ Fox Business, "19 states investigate major US banks for pushing ESG policies 'killing' American companies," October 19, 2022
  63. ↑ Attorney General of Texas, "Paxton Launches Investigation into S&P Global’s Use of ESG Factors in Credit Ratings, Potentially Violating Consumer Protection Laws," accessed October 13, 2022
  64. ↑ Fox News, "Indiana AG calls ESGs 'activist-driven agendas,' seeks to prevent use for investing state pensions," September 1, 2022
  65. ↑ Reuters, "Eighteen U.S. states join Missouri probe into Morningstar ESG," August 17, 2022
  66. ↑ Commonwealth of Kentucky Office of the Attorney General, "OAG 22-05," May 26, 2022
  67. ↑ E&E News, "Red states decry ‘woke left’ SEC proposal for ESG investing," August 18, 2022
  68. ↑ Reuters, "Exclusive: Missouri attorney general investigates Morningstar over ESG ratings," August 3, 2022
  69. ↑ "L'Observateur, "ESG Practices Conflicting with Louisiana Law, AG Jeff Landry Issues Legal Guidance to State Retirement Systems," accessed January 6, 2024
  70. ↑ Fox Business, "Dozen state GOP agriculture commissioners launch probe of US banks over ESG investing: 'It must be stopped,"' accessed February 1, 2024
  71. ↑ Cowboy State Daily, "Chuck Gray Hammers Financial Advisors About ‘Clown Show Woke Ideology’ ESG Policies," April 6, 2023
  72. ↑ Pensions & Investments, "It's a felony: N.H. bill would make it a crime to knowingly use ESG criteria in investing taxpayer dollars," accessed January 25, 2024
  73. ↑ The Center Square, "Arkansas law creating ESG oversight committee goes into effect Tuesday," accessed August 7, 2023
  74. ↑ Texas Tribune, "Lawmakers passed a bill to stop insurers from considering ESG criteria in setting rates," accessed June 28, 2023
  75. ↑ Alabama Reporter, "Gov. Ivey signs anti-ESG bill into law," accessed June 28, 2023
  76. ↑ Fox Business, "North Carolina bill banning ESG in hiring, investment sent to governor’s desk," accessed June 28, 2023
  77. ↑ Alabama Political Reporter, "House passes anti-ESG bill without debate," accessed June 17, 2023
  78. ↑ WSFA, "Alabama Senate passes what GOP calls strongest Anti-ESG bill in nation," accessed May 28, 2023
  79. ↑ Alabama Political Reporter, "Senate committee approves anti-ESG bill," accessed May 18, 2023
  80. ↑ Reuters, "DeSantis signs sweeping anti-ESG legislation in Florida," accessed May 12, 2023
  81. ↑ Fox News, "Indiana Republicans push through anti-ESG investing bill," accessed May 4, 2023
  82. ↑ Pension&Investments, "Kansas anti-ESG bill to become law after governor declines to veto," accessed May 4, 2023
  83. ↑ Bloomberg, "DeSantis Steps Up Attack on ESG as Florida Bars Public Investments," April 19, 2023
  84. ↑ Chief Investment Officer, "Anti-ESG Bills Progressing in Kansas, South Carolina Legislatures," April 14, 2023
  85. ↑ Fox News, "Kansas Legislature clears anti-ESG bill, but its not as strong as some conservatives wanted," accessed April 13, 2023
  86. ↑ Inside Indiana Business, "Indiana Senate committee advances pared down anti-ESG bill," accessed April 13, 2023
  87. ↑ The Epoch Times, "Kentucky Governor Signs Bill Banning ESG Investment in Public Pensions," accessed April 7, 2023
  88. ↑ Kansas Reflector, "House votes to block ESG-flavored investments, contracts at all levels of Kansas government," accessed March 27, 2023
  89. ↑ WFTV, "Florida House passes bill banning ESG in government investments," accessed March 27, 2023
  90. ↑ Associated Press, "Business backlash pushing GOP to weaken anti-ESG proposals," accessed March 27, 2023
  91. ↑ Boise State Public Radio, "Trio of anti-ESG bills pass the Idaho House," accessed March 9, 2023
  92. ↑ Salt Lake Tribune, "Anti-ESG bills roll out to target 'the weaponization of capital,'" accessed March 3, 2023
  93. ↑ Daily Journal, "Bill requiring public retirement system to divest from ESG-following firms passes committee," February 5, 2023
  94. ↑ The Epoch Times, "BlackRock, State Street Admit Signing Net-Zero Pledges They Don’t Act On," accessed January 14, 2023
  95. ↑ PJ Media, "Texas Legislative Committee Subpoenas BlackRock Over ESG Investing," December 8, 2022
  96. ↑ Idaho Capital Sun, "Idaho legislators readying bill to restrict environmental and social ratings in investments," November 22, 2022
  97. ↑ Fox Business, "Texas demands documents from BlackRock, other financial service firms in ESG probe," August 23, 2022
  98. ↑ KMVT, "Idaho lawmakers look to prohibit ‘ESG’ in state investments," March 16, 2022
  99. ↑ E&E News, "Anti-ESG claim faces first legal test in New York," accessed December 7, 2023
  100. ↑ Wall Street Journal, "Judge Strikes Down California Law Mandating Women on Boards," May 16, 2022
  101. ↑ Reuters, "Los Angeles court rules state corporate diversity law unconstitutional," April 4, 2022
  102. ↑ Reuters, "American Airlines must face lawsuit over ESG retirement investing," February 22, 2024
  103. ↑ Bloomberg, "BlackRock, State Street Subpoenaed in House’s ESG Probe," accessed December 19, 2023
  104. ↑ CNBC, "House panel subpoenas Vanguard, Arjuna in ESG ‘collusion’ probe," accessed December 19, 2023
  105. ↑ Pensions & Investments, "House lawmakers spar over ESG," accessed November 16, 2023
  106. ↑ Plan Advisor, "House Republicans Subpoena ESG Advocates," accessed November 7, 2023
  107. ↑ Bloomberg, "Top House Republican Demands SEC Turn Over Documents on ESG," accessed October 20, 2023
  108. ↑ Bloomberg Law, "House GOP Doubles Down on Anti-ESG Messaging With New Measures," accessed September 26, 2023
  109. ↑ JDSUPRA, "GOP ESG Bills Await US House Floor Consideration," accessed September 17, 2023
  110. ↑ Bloomberg, "Big California Pension Fund Hands Over Trove of Climate-Related Documents Demanded by House GOP," accessed August 29, 2023
  111. ↑ U.S. House Financial Services Committee, "House Financial Services Committee Reports Digital Asset, ESG Legislation to Full House for Consideration," accessed August 7, 2023
  112. ↑ KARK, "Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton introduces bill to block ESG politics from investment managers," accessed July 23, 2023
  113. ↑ The Hill, "5 things to know about the growing fight over ESG," accessed July 23, 2023
  114. ↑ Bloomberg, "House Republicans Probe BlackRock, Vanguard on Their ESG Policies," accessed July 23, 2023
  115. ↑ Bloomberg Law, "House Republicans Issue Anti-ESG Priorities for 118th Congress," accessed June 28, 2023
  116. ↑ CNBC, "House GOP retirement fund bill takes aim at ESG investing," accessed June 28, 2023
  117. ↑ The Hill, "Anti-ESG talk leads to partisan fireworks: ‘Stupidest hearing I’ve ever been to,’" accessed June 17, 2023
  118. ↑ 401k Specialist, "‘No ESG in TSP Act’ Reintroduced in Congress," accessed June 2, 2023
  119. ↑ Reuters, "Climate change not 'serious risk' to financial stability, Fed's Waller says," accessed May 18, 2023
  120. ↑ Committee on Oversight and Accountability, "Comer: ESG is Just Window Dressing for Liberal Activism and Far-left Ideology," accessed May 18, 2023
  121. ↑ America First Legal, "America First Legal Serves as Co-Counsel in Landmark Legal Action Against the SEC for Illegally Ignoring Shareholders and Protecting Kroger’s Discrimination on the Basis of 'Ideology,'" accessed May 4, 2023
  122. ↑ {https://nypost.com/2023/04/22/how-liberal-politicians-maneuver-trillions-via-esg/ New York Post, "How liberal politicians steer trillions of public funds via ESG," accessed April 27, 2023]
  123. ↑ Associated Press, "House GOP fails to override Biden veto of ESG investing ban," accessed March 27, 2023
  124. ↑ The Hill, "Manchin calls Biden administration priorities ‘absolutely infuriating’ after ESG veto," accessed March 27, 2023
  125. ↑ Business Insider, "GOP House Oversight chairman James Comer criticizes Silicon Valley Bank as 'one of the most woke banks'," accessed March 27, 2023
  126. ↑ Congress.gov, "H.J. Res. 30," accessed March 2, 2023
  127. ↑ White House, "Statement of Administration Policy," February 27, 2023
  128. ↑ Law360, "BREAKING: Biden Vetoes Legislation That Took Aim At Labor Dept. ESG Rule," March 20, 2023
  129. ↑ Bloomberg, "Trump Adds His Voice to Republicans Condemning ESG Investing," accessed March 3, 2023
  130. ↑ Bloomberg Law, "Senate GOP One Vote Shy of Blocking ESG 401(k) Investing Rule," February 17, 2023
  131. ↑ Washington Times, "Manchin: ESG hurts energy security if geopolitical risks get ignored," February 16, 2023
  132. ↑ Fox New, "House GOP announces aggressive, first-of-its-kind effort to combat ESG movement," February 3, 2023
  133. ↑ U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, "ESG: Everything Everywhere All at Once," accessed January 27, 2023
  134. ↑ NPR, "Republicans plan more attacks on ESG. Investors still plan to focus on climate risk," December 29, 2022
  135. ↑ The Epoch Times, "House Republicans Warn ESG Policies May Violate Antitrust Laws, Demand Documents From Investor Group," accessed December 21, 2022
  136. ↑ Axios, "Top Republicans try to tank new ESG rule," December 16, 2022
  137. ↑ Fox News via Yahoo News, "Biden warned on ‘heavy-handed’ ESG policies hitting companies, families," DEcemebr 7, 2022
  138. ↑ The Washington Post, "GOP to probe ‘cancer’ of climate-friendly investing after midterms," November 2, 2022
  139. ↑ Bloomberg, "Senate’s Warner Scolds Apple, Tesla for ‘Blind Eye’ Toward China," October 18, 2022
  140. ↑ Roll Call, "Retirement funds are ground zero in Senate GOP opposition to ESG," July 28, 2022
  141. ↑ Marco Rubio, "ICYMI: Rubio on Fox Business: Here's How We Fight the Woke Elites Running Corporate America," September 23, 2021
  142. ↑ New York Post, "How liberal politicians steer trillions of public funds via ESG," accessed April 27, 2023
  143. ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "This Former BlackRock Executive Says ESG Investment Model Is Broken," November 12, 2022
  144. ↑ Competitive Enterprise Institute, "Got Woke: A Review of ‘The Dictatorship of Woke Capital’," April 13, 2021
  145. ↑ The Political Forum Institute, "THE GOP’S ESG STRATEGY," accessed November 21, 2023
  146. ↑ VOXEU, "Smoke and mirrors: A look inside ESG fund portfolios," accessed October 20, 2023
  147. ↑ The Financial Post, "Terence Corcoran: ‘Woke’ ESG regulations leading to policy chaos with worst yet to come," accessed September 17, 2023
  148. ↑ VettaFi Advisor Perspectives, "Aswath Damodaran: It’s Time to Retire the ESG Concept," accessed May 4, 2023
  149. ↑ Real Clear Energy, "ESG: 'Doing Good or Sounding Good?'" November 22, 2022
  150. ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Sam Bankman-Fried Becomes an ESG Truth-Teller," November 17, 2022
  151. ↑ The Hill, "Proposed climate rule is bigger, badder deal than Manchin-Schumer climate bill," October 15, 2022
  152. ↑ RealClear Politics, "ESG Cancel Culture Comes for State Financial Officers," October 8, 2022
  153. ↑ New York Times. "One of the Hottest Trends in the World of Investing Is a Sham," September 29, 2022
  154. ↑ Fox News, "Post-ESG era for corporations, investment nears," September 26, 2022
  155. ↑ The Federalist, "The ‘ESG’ Scam Rates Slave-Using Chinese Firms Higher Than Clean American Energy Producers," June 28, 2022
  156. ↑ Wall Street Journal, "The ESG Investing Backlash Arrives," August 15, 2022
  157. ↑ Washington Post, Business beware, ‘stakeholder’ capitalism is parasitic progressivism," June 22, 2022
  158. ↑ National Review, "The Bankruptcy of ESG Is Being Exposed," September 8, 2022
  159. ↑ New York Times, "How Republicans Are ‘Weaponizing’ Public Office Against Climate Action," August 5, 2022
  160. ↑ New York Post, "The New York Times’ cluelessness just hit a new high," accessed February 15, 2023
  161. ↑ SSRN, "ESG Ratings of ESG Index Providers, accessed November 30, 2023
  162. ↑ Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University Working Paper Forthcoming, "ESG Ratings: A Compass without Direction," August 4, 2022
  163. ↑ Yahoo, "New MIT Sloan study discovers "widespread and repeated" retroactive changes to ESG scores," June 28, 2022
  164. ↑ Harvard Business Review, "An Inconvenient Truth About ESG Investing," March 31, 2022
  165. ↑ Buckeye Institute, "NET-ZERO CLIMATE-CONTROL POLICIES WILL FAIL THE FARM," February 7, 2024
  166. ↑ Washington Examiner, "Watchdog report catalogs ESG shareholder efforts to pressure corporations on liberal priorities," accessed August 29, 2023
  167. ↑ Fox Business, "Heritage Foundation unveils initiative opposing ESG policies pushed by 'woke' corporations," September 1, 2022
  168. ↑ National Review, "ESG: BlackRock’s Hard Place," November 15, 2022
  169. ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Farm Groups Rally Against SEC Proposal to Report Climate Data," October 29, 2022
  170. ↑ The Epoch Times, "BlackRock Downgraded by UBS Over Growing ESG Investing Risks," October 14, 2022
  171. ↑ CNBC, "There’s an ESG backlash inside the executive ranks at top corporations," September 29, 2022
  172. ↑ Financial Times, "US banks threaten to leave Mark Carney’s green alliance over legal risks," September 20, 2022
  173. ↑ Daily Wire, "Wall Street Is ‘Trying To Punish’ Middle America For Religious And Cultural Views Through Woke Investing, Republican State Treasurers Warn," June 1, 2022
  174. ↑ Wall Street Journal, "Investors Balk at Tough Climate Proposals: 2022 Proxy Voting Roundup," June 22, 2022
  175. ↑ Yahoo Finance, "Edelman CEO advice to other top execs: Beware of the 'pushback against wokeness'," June 4, 2020
  176. ↑ Wall Street Journal, "‘Woke, Inc.’ Author’s Startup to Take On BlackRock," May 10, 2022
  177. ↑ Bloomberg, "Tesla, Echoing Musk, Says ESG Metrics Are ‘Fundamentally Flawed’, "May 6, 2022
  178. ↑ Bloomberg, "Thiel-Backed Firm Debuts Anti-ESG ETF to Urge More Drilling," August 10, 2022
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