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Alabama auditor argues ESG hurts agriculture (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 |
Alabama State Auditor Andrew Sorrell (R) argued in an op-ed published Oct. 13 that ESG threatens farmers—especially those in his state. Sorrell said environmental regulations and corporate policies will increase farming costs and damage large agricultural industries:
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[I]t is the Environmental component of ESG that is so dangerous to Alabama agriculture because government climate-control policies contained in the Paris Climate Accords and the Inflation Reduction Act will force huge increases in costs on our farmers—increases that will be passed along to consumers at the grocery store. In fact, the Buckeye Institute put out a report in February that outlines how farmers will see their operational costs rise by 34% because of net-zero ESG policies. They estimated that would increase the grocery bill for a family of four by $1300/year, including 70% increases in the price of beef, 39% in chicken, and 36% for eggs. Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller joined 11 other state agriculture leaders to co-sign a letter that addressed this very issue, stating: 'Imposing costly ESG requirements on America's Farmers and ranchers will have a devastating impact on U.S. agriculture and world food security.' In Alabama, this won't just hurt farmers, it'll affect poultry and egg industry and the forestry industry as well. … The truth is Alabama agriculture can't afford ESG mandates. We need Alabama elected officials at all levels of government to fight back on these ESG proposals. To begin with, we must protect Alabama farmers from being de-banked for not committing to net-zero emissions by 2050. We must defeat any efforts to impose a 'meat tax,' as other countries such as Denmark and Sweden have already debated to reduce meat consumption. We must also resist any effort to force our farmers to use electric equipment.[1] |
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See also
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's ESG newsletter
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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