Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor is joining a 21-state coalition in filing formal criticism with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about a proposed rule requiring investment funds to consider “Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)” factors when making investment decisions.
The proposed rule, called “Enhanced Disclosures by Certain Investment Advisers and Investment Companies about Environmental, Social and Governance Investment Practices,” is an effort by the SEC to transform itself from the federal regulator of securities into a “regulator of social ills,” according to the coalition.
ESG investing practices by major firms like BlackRock, with $10 trillion under management, have a possible negative impact on retirement funds for Americans. ESG investment houses are making investment decisions contrary to the interests of retirees who are on fixed incomes, by making investments that place ESG over the needs of their clients. BlackRock manages several public sector retirement funds, and the company is pushing a net-zero energy transition among American companies it invests in. Last year it used its financial prowess to install climate activists on the boards of companies such as ExxonMobil.
The attorneys general are not the only ones calling out BlackRock. Glenn Beck wrote, “Why would BlackRock, the world’s leader in ESG, take half a billion dollars from Saudi Arabia — a country that’s doing the exact opposite of what BlackRock promotes? Maybe it’s because ESG is a scam that’s all about power, control, and money.”
In December of 2020, Dunleavy was the first governor to talk publicly about the hypocrisy of ESG funds. In 2022, he introduce HB 401, which would stop the state from doing business with institutions that target Alaska’s economy under the ESG rubric, but that profit from hostilities generated by bad-actor nations.
Dunleavy rolled out the bill, making it clear the revenue windfall was coming on the backs of human misery, and into profits of liberal financial institutions that claim to stand up for rights of oppressed. The legislation, which took aim at the hypocrisy of these ESG institutions, never passed. The House majority passed some meaningless resolutions, didn’t advance anything that has teeth and HB 401 expired with the end of session.
The West Virginia legislature passed a bill last month that puts it in law: It will no longer do business with Wall Street firms that boycott the fossil fuel industry.
West Virginia treasurer Riley Moore (R.) decided this week that BlackRock, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs, are ineligible for state banking contracts due to their boycotts of fossil fuels. The ban will cost the Wall Street firms $18 billion per year, according to Moore’s office.
This week’s letter is another arrow at ESG investment firms. Alaska is joining the states of West Virginia, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.
A copy of the letter:
