Three years ago, Texas passed two laws in 2021 that restrict the state from doing business with companies that are deemed to be hostile to fossil fuels and firearm industries.The two laws are just a handful of the many new laws Republicans have been pushing that oppose environmental, social and governance aka ESG investing and financing. Many Republicans consider screening potential investments for their environmental and social impact as part of the left’s efforts to impose their “woke” political views on the masses and have labeled ESG investing as anti-capitalist.“ESG is just a hate factory. It’s a factory for naming enemies,” Republican mega-donor Peter Thiel has declared, while former Vice President Mike Pence has lamented that firms have been pushing a “radical ESG agenda.”And, the effects of those controversial laws are now being felt across the ESG universe. Texas has barred state entities, including pensions, from investing in roughly 350 funds that oppose fossil fuel investing while other firms have been blacklisted for opposing firearms. To wit, the Republican-leaning state has banned Wall Street behemoths BlackRock Inc., Citigroup Inc. Barclays Plc and members of Net Zero Banking Alliance that have committed to “financing ambitious climate action to transition the real economy to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.” Just days ago, Texas Permanent School Fund terminated its contract with BlackRock to manage $8.5 billion of state money due to the money manager’s hardline stance on fossil fuel investments.
The proliferation of ESG throughout America is a direct threat to the American economy, individual economic freedom, and our way of life, putting investment decisions in the hands of the woke mob to bypass the ballot box and inject political ideology into investment decisions, corporate governance, and the everyday economy,” they said in a joint statement.
