To: Interested Parties
From: Unlocking America’s Future
RE: House Republicans Hold Nonsense Hearing To Appease Their Anti-ESG Donors
Date: June 12, 2024
Today, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on The Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust is holding a hearing titled “Climate Control: Decarbonization Collusion in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Investing.”
Responsible Investing Is Popular Among Voters
Polling shows a majority of voters agree that financial managers should be allowed to consider environmental factors when making investing decisions. Even in a state like Texas, polling from Unlocking America’s Future and Z to A Research revealed 83% of Texans say it is not the role of government to tell private financial institutions how to invest their customers’ money.
Responsible Investing Has Support From The Business Community
ESG investing also has strong support among the business community:
- A recent survey conducted by Deloitte found an overwhelming majority (83%) of mergers and acquisitions buyers would pay an additional 3% to acquire a company that demonstrates good ESG performance.
- New financial data suggests green and sustainable bond issuance revenue is steadily growing – and positioned to continue producing increasing returns.
- Asset managers are increasingly taking ESG measures into account when making investment decisions–with climate issues serving as the most significant driver of sustainable investments–according to a survey conducted by Morningstar Indexes and Sustainalytics.
Responsible Investing Makes Financial Sense
Responsible investing also makes financial sense. A new report from economic insights firm The Perryman Group reveals the real economic consequences of Texas’ recent anti-ESG legislation, which has the potential to cost the state as much as $821.1 million and nearly 8,800 job-years by the end of the year. This confirms other studies in other states:
- The Kansas State Division of the Budget projected reduced returns of $3.6 billion over 10 years for the Kansas Public Retirement System if anti-ESG investment restrictions were adopted.
- The Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System estimated that they could lose $30 million to $40 million a year due to an anti-ESG bill that would require the state treasurer and public entities to divest assets from certain institutions that use metrics related to responsible investing.
- The Indiana Public Retirement System found that anti-ESG legislation “could result in reduced investment returns by $6.7 B over the next 10 years.
- According to the Chief Investment Officer, the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System could face $9.7 million in taxes, fees and commission costs if it is forced to divest from BlackRock, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, State Street Corp, and Bank of America because of anti-ESG legislation.
So, Why Are Judiciary Republicans Holding This Hearing? Money!
So if responsible investing is supported by both everyday Americans and the business community, and it makes financial sense, why are House Republicans holding this hearing?
Easy. The Republicans on the subcommittee have made over $2 million in campaign contributions, according to data sourced from OpenSecets.org.
| Congressperson | Career $$ From Oil & Gas |
| Massie, Thomas (R-KY) (Subcommittee Chairman) | $103,316 |
| Armstrong, Kelly (R-ND) | $726,511 |
| Bentz, Cliff (R-OR) | $89,290 |
| Bishop, Dan (R-NC) | $64,389 |
| Cline, Ben (R-VA) | $60,457 |
| Fitzgerald, Scott (R-WI) | $31,770 |
| Issa, Darrell (R-CA) | $435,882 |
| Gaetz, Matt (R-FL) | $66,273 |
| Gooden, Lance (R-TX) | $274,550 |
| Hageman, Harriet (R-WY) | $104,125 |
| Moran, Nathaniel (R-TX) | $94,550 |
| Spartz, Victoria (R-IN) | $31,055 |
| Van Drew, Jeff (R-NJ) | $61,556 |
| Total | $2,143,724 |
Rather than focusing on issues that actually matter to the American people and their constituents, extreme politicians are wasting time on a hearing, attacking responsible investing in order to appease their own campaign donors and big oil.
