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Shot/Chaser

SHOT/CHASER: Fox Business Pushes Report Attacking Responsible Investing (ESG)…Report Produced by Buckeye Institute, a Koch-funded Organization

February 8, 2024

SHOT: Fox Business is doubling down on its dubious claims that ESG standards will harm the economy. 

  • Fox Business published a story this week exploiting American farmers as the scapegoat for the outlet’s attacks against responsible investing. 
  • Fox Business provided a megaphone for self-interested billionaires from the oil and gas industries and their talking points, mentioning “oil and gas producers, chemical companies and the American farm will likely shoulder the heaviest compliance burden.” 

CHASER: Fox Business is basing this new claim off a Koch-backed report. 

  • The report, titled “Net-Zero Climate-Control Policies Will Fail the Farm,” was published by the Buckeye Institute, a right-wing advocacy group that purports itself as a think tank. 
  • The Institute has also received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the State Policy Network (SPN), a right-wing investment vehicle and network of advocacy groups that pose as think tanks to push extreme agendas in statehouses across the U.S.

EVERYDAY AMERICANS ARE HARMED BY THESE ATTACKS ON RESPONSIBLE INVESTING 

  • Research has consistently shown that the claims made in this latest report are misleading and harmful. Attacks on responsible investing endanger the financial well-being of everyday Americans, especially in the form of higher taxes and lower returns on retirement savings. 
  • 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 they could lose $30-40 million each year due to an anti-ESG bill requiring public divestiture from institutions using ESG-related metrics.
  • According to the state’s 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 groups like BlackRock.