Supposed free-market champions are limiting the freedom of investment managers, leading to lower returns and higher interest rates on bonds.
In the face of fires, record heat, floods and other extreme weather events across the country, House Republicans are using much of July to oppose financial transparency related to climate risks and to attack investor freedoms. Their reckless course endangers not just the planet but also the financial stability of Americans’ retirement savings and pensions. One Republican went so far as to say consideration of climate risk by asset managers is “Satan’s plan.”
On July 12, leaders of the House Financial Services Committee launched hearings to attack environmental, social and governmental (ESG) practices by financial firms. They are also crafting legislation that would outlaw long-standing risk assessment practices. Just as dangerously, House Republicans intend to restrict shareholders’ ability to hold corporate executives accountable by restricting rights to vote proxies and curbing shareholder resolutions related to corporate governance.
It’s hardly surprising that oil companies and other fossil fuel businesses have poured tens of millions of dollars into the campaign coffers of committee members and other anti-ESG politicians across the country.
Bloomberg Opinion
By Brian Frosh and Nancy Kopp
July 25, 2023