Today the “Republican Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Working Group” released its final report after nearly two years of baseless attacks against responsible investing. Led by Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga (MI-04), who has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry, the 37-page report proposes a number of backwards policies, including restricting investors’ access to their markets of choice.
In response to the report, Unlocking America’s Future Spokesperson Kyle Herrig issued the following statement:
“Despite the overwhelming evidence that responsible investing is good for the economy and America’s presence on the global stage, self-serving politicians in the pockets of their wealthy donors continue to waste taxpayer dollars and leverage their platform to espouse misinformation around corporate ESG practices and investing. The same group that attacked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s climate risk disclosure rule is advocating to increase transparency in the financial system. The Working Group also attacks the European Union for its progress on climate risk reporting, but fails to mention that even global competitors like China are already moving ahead on these standards. These proposals completely ignore the values of the American public, a majority of whom across party lines support responsible investing and do not want Congress to interfere in the investment practice.”
