With less than a week to go until the midterm elections, Republicans are making it clear they are eager to do more damage to financial institutions who so much as mention ESG. Environmental, social, and governance practices can better hold companies accountable and force them to answer for investing in polluting industries that threaten the planet. To the GOP, ESG is just another example of how the “woke” agenda is creeping into every facet of American life.
Both Politico and The Washington Post report that the GOP is taking a comprehensive approach in this fight against the likes of BlackRock: Many Republican state treasurer hopefuls are looking to follow in the footsteps of officials in Louisiana, West Virginia, Missouri, and Texas, who’ve divested from firms they believe are punishing fossil fuel companies when in reality, that’s absolutely not the case.
In addition to state-level tactics, the GOP is looking to target finance firms on a congressional level. If Republicans retake the House, lawmakers are already preparing to use the House Financial Services Committee as a vehicle to scrutinize companies’ ESG policies. Kentucky Rep. Garland “Andy” Barr boasted to The Washington Post that ESG would be “one of the major focuses” of that committee, referring to ESG investing as “a cancer” and “a fraud on American investors.”
Nothing about this is new. And it’s frankly insulting to lump in ESG concerns with intersectional issues in a disingenuous way. Every Republican problem with so-called “woke” concerns boils down to retaining power and knowing where that power comes from. There could also be some clever accounting at play on the side of the finance groups that the likes of Barr are going after. Recent campaign finance data suggests some of Barr’s top campaign funders come from securities and investment firms and commercial banks, whose shareholders and leaders don’t appear all that willing to examine how their investments could hasten climate change.
It may feel nearly impossible to push the finance industry to do the right thing, but you can elect lawmakers better equipped to genuinely hold them accountable. Climate is on the ballot across the country and there any many ways to ensure it’s an issue elected officials are willing to fight instead of obscure and downplay. Check out Daily Kos’ GOTV page for ways to get involved.
On The Brief podcast we discuss what the polls are saying—and what the polls cannot predict. The traditional and right-wing narrative continues to champion polling that downplays Democratic candidates’ successes, while ignoring polling (including their own, in some cases) that flies in the face of that narrative. Either way, it does not change the fact that you need to get out and vote! And after you vote, make sure to encourage others to get out and vote—especially those younger folks in your life.