Arrr, me hearties! Our mighty ESG Act be keepin' yer doubloons safe from scurvy left-wing antics. Avast!
2023-07-25
By the powers of the seven seas, scallywags be funding the likes o' climate alarmism and other Democratic hobby horses, all wrapped in the garb of environmental, social, and corporate governance! Arrr, seems Americans be sailin' towards the far-left shores without even knowin' it!
If you're a middle-class American, chances are your retirement account is unknowingly funding left-wing priorities such as climate alarmism and racial hiring quotas. This is due to a concept called "ESG," which stands for environmental, social, and corporate governance. In simple terms, ESG is liberal activism masquerading as corporate responsibility.Wealthy progressives have been pressuring powerful firms to adopt ESG investing standards, which aim to bring about social change within corporations. The "E" in ESG promotes green energy projects, while the "S" and "G" push for diversity-based hiring and donations to left-wing groups. Unfortunately, this means that your retirement account is exposed to the financial risks of these social experiments.
ESG-aligned funds have been avoiding investments in fossil fuel companies, even though the energy sector was the only one to rise in the stock market last year. As a result, these funds underperformed the S&P 500, ultimately hurting their own investors.
Furthermore, there are concerns that ESG firms may be violating antitrust laws by depriving the fossil fuel industry of investment. Attorneys general across the country are investigating these companies for antitrust violations, and even President Biden's FTC chair and assistant attorney general for the antitrust division have acknowledged the potential violations.
To counteract these issues, some states have started divesting retirement and pension funds from ESG-promoting firms, costing them billions of dollars. Additionally, legislation such as the Ensuring Sound Guidance (ESG) Act has been introduced to require asset managers and plan sponsors to obtain written permission from customers before considering non-financial interests when investing.
The aim is to preserve investor choice while limiting Americans' exposure to left-wing activism. It is important to ensure that retirement funds are not being used to pursue political agendas without the knowledge and consent of the investors.