Republicans in the House of Representatives, led by Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, are moving to crack down on bureaucratic attempts to promote or require environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing.
Firms like BlackRock and Trillium Asset Management use ESG investing to encourage companies to transition towards green energy, and federal agencies have used the rulemaking process to push contractors in the same direction. Securities and Exchange Commissioner Gary Gensler is a vigorous advocate of ESG investing, and has passed rules that require all publicly traded companies to release data on their climate emissions. Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee are pledging to investigate his actions in the 118th Congress.
Donalds’ bill, the ESG Rule Prevention Act, would prohibit all federal agencies from “requir[ing] as a condition of eligibility for a contract” an applicant to “disclose to the head of the agency the amount of greenhouse” gases the applicant emits. Read more…
