Last Thursday, March 16 2023, governors of 18 U.S. states announced the formation of an alliance, led by Florida Governor Ron Desantis, aimed at coordinating actions to “protect individuals from the ESG movement” with actions including banning the use of ESG considerations in state and local pension funds.
(yes, you read correctly).
A statement by the Governors called the "proliferation of ESG throughout America is a direct threat to the American economy," and outlined a series of actions to be considered by the group, such as “blocking the use of ESG in all investment decisions at the state and local level,” prohibiting state fund managers from considering ESG factors in their investments on behalf of the state, as well as eliminating the consideration of ESG factors in bond issues by state and local governments.
Here are some of the specific "state-level efforts":
- protecting taxpayers from ESG influences across state systems ... ensuring that only financial factors are considered to maximize the return on investment
- protecting citizens from ESG influences in the financial sector ... banning the financial sector from considering so called “Social Credit Scores”
Click at the image below to read more.
And a spoiller about tomorrow's post: we intend to comment Rebecca Solnit's opinion on The Washington Post, reframing climate change as an opportunity. Rebecca Solnit, is a writer and historian, and co-editor of the anthology “Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story From Despair to Possibility,” publishing in April.
