Republicans Proposed to Take on More Anti-ESG Fights by 2023

Republican legislators are expected to address the environment, governance, and governance (ESG), with several states, including Oklahoma, Indiana, and Florida, focusing on business-related policies.

The Republican charge against ESG is being led by some of the GOP’s biggest names, including former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. DeSantis is troubled by the preference of ESG investors “woke corporate ideals” The report identifies financial and other nonfinancial factors that investors must consider when making investments. “People Before Corporate Power” presentation uploaded on the Florida governor’s website.

ESG has mainly affected conservative Americans, soon-to retirees, people who have strong religious beliefs, Second Amendment supporters, and others. “Biden border crisis,” It stated that every day Americans fill up their gas tank,

“ESG investors are corporate cartel elites who do not represent the will of the people, but rather base their investment strategies on social causes and virtue signaling while driving up costs for consumers in the name of diversity and sidelining hardworking Americans by threatening their livelihoods,” The presentation states.

The Florida governor has already proposed a framework for strict action against ESG policies that will be taken up in the March session by the state’s lawmakers.

This includes a) prohibiting credit card firms, big banks, and money transmitters from discriminating against customers for their political, religious, or social beliefs; b) requiring State Board of Administration (SBA) fund managers to focus only on maximizing the return on investment on behalf of Florida’s retirees; and c) prohibiting SBA fund managers from taking into account ESG factors when investing state money.

More GOP Action

State House Speaker Todd Huston (Republican-Indiana) is the Indiana State House Speaker. In November, State House Speaker Todd Huston (R-Ind.) raised the topic of ESG considerations being applied investments made by Indiana Public Retirement System.

“We want—particularly within our pension funds—our pension fund managers to be focused on return on investment and not on energy and social policies,” Huston said According to the Indiana Capital Chronicle, it was at that time. These issues will be taken up by the Republican leadership in Congress when the session starts this month.

Oklahoma Republican State Senator Casey Murdock proposed a bill banning government entities from entering contracts with companies with restrictive firearms policies. Texas introduced House Bill 645 to limit the use ESG criteria.

Six Republicans from Congress wrote to two executives from the steering committee of Climate Action 100+ in December. In the letterThe GOP members blamed ESG Agenda for promoting restrictions on oil and natural gas investment, while also encouraging abortion access and gun control.

“When companies agree to work together to punish disfavored views or industries, or to otherwise advance environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals, this coordinated behavior may violate the antitrust laws and harm American consumers,” The lawmakers wrote.

ESG Performance

Last year was a poor year for investment funds that adhered ESG policies. A Bloomberg analysis An analysis of the assets of the 10 largest ESG fund funds shows that, while the S&P 500 Index dropped by 14.8 per cent as of Dec. 5, eight out of the 10 funds suffered even greater losses.

Brown Advisory Sustainable Growth Fund ranked first on the list. Its decline was 28.1 percent which is nearly double that of the S&P 500. According to a Bloomberg survey, 65 percent of respondents expected ESG funds this year to outperform the wider market.

“Given the challenges of 2022, there will be some recovery next year, but it will remain mixed,” Fionna Ross, a fund manager based in Edinburgh, spoke out about ESG funds during an interview with the media outlet.

Naveen Atrappully is a reporter for The Epoch Times covering world and business events.

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