The first rule of argument is that you have to describe the other side’s position accurately. But if the anti-ESG crowd did that, everyone would think they were crazy. And so we get a misinformation campaign and outright lies like this from the ultra-right Association of Mature American Citizens, which says its goal is “recovery…
Category: dark money
States push back against blacklisting climate-friendly banks – The Washington Post
Across the country, the battle rages over sustainable investing, with more than $500 billion pouring into climate and socially conscious investments in 2021, according to JPMorgan Chase. Conservative groups have sought to use public pension plans and state and local bond offerings to freeze out selected financial institutions. Those groups say they are simply trying…
Public Companies and Politics: How to Co-Exist
Easier to say than to do! David Lopez, and Jonathan Povilonis of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, say. that companies should stay out of politics except when they decide it’s in their economic interest to do so. There are three general directions that public companies could head toward:First, corporate America could evolve to mirror…
Republican Witnesses Nothing More Than Industry Mouthpieces: Accountable US
Accountable US has a new report with the unsurprising but still dispiriting news that the witnesses at the new Republican-led House Financial Services Committee hearing on ““Revamping and Revitalizing Banking in the 21st Century” are industry shills who paid to be there. The hearing is not about revamping or revitalizing, it is about protecting industry…
Comcast Is a Media Outlier After Contributing $360,000 to Election Deniers
According to campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets, Comcast’s political action committee was high on the list of financial supporters for politicians who openly questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election. In early 2021, Comcast said it would suspend donations “to those elected officials who voted against certification of the electoral college votes” and would review its…
How an Organized Republican Effort Punishes Companies for Climate Action – The New York Times
The New York Times reports on the effort to thwart market-based responses to climate change. In West Virginia, the state treasurer has pulled money from BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, because the Wall Street firm has flagged climate change as an economic risk. In Texas, a new law bars the state’s retirement and investment…
Larry Fink: Here’s Your Answer to the Despicable Letter from the GOP Attorneys General
From VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow: I’m sure BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s response to the obnoxious, accusatory, misleading, letter he received from 19 Republican state attorneys general will be measured, diplomatic, and thoroughly lawyered over. He will hope to mollify them to continue to be able to do business with the government pension funds. That is only…
WSJ Gets Duped on Fake News ESG “Study”
The Wall Street Journal was either duped or disingenuous in an op-ed from Vivek Ramaswamy (author of anti-ESG book Woke, Inc.) and Riley Moore (Treasurer of coal-economy West Virginia) about a study giving bad grades to pension funds and fund managers for supporting the proxy contest at ExxonMobil in 2021. See below: Insight ESG Energy is…
The billionaires buying the midterm elections
Two primary super PACs seek to establish Republican majorities in the Senate and House — the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) and the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF). Those two groups, which can accept unlimited donations, collectively raised $188.3 million through March 2022. Nearly half of the money, $89.4 million, has come from just 27 billionaires, according…
The GOP Is the Party of Gruesome Oil Profiteering | The Nation
“Investor pressure to maintain capital discipline” is a nice way of referring to putting profits ahead of the public good. And that’s precisely what the oil companies are doing. “Big Oil executives are bragging to shareholders about price gouging families at the pump,” said [California Representative Katie] Porter. “They’re purposely keeping supply low to earn…
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