Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced that his state is suing BlackRock, alleging “the world’s largest asset manager breached consumer protection by making ‘misleading’ statements about its environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) investment strategies.”
This comes days after the House Judiciary Committee targeted BlackRock and other investment firms, including State Street, Vanguard, and Arjuna Capital, with subpoenas relating to its probe on whether or not responsible investing violates antitrust laws.
“Extremist politicians are abusing the powers granted to them by the people they serve in order to go after companies for making financial decisions they disagree with,” said Unlocking America’s Future spokesperson Kyle Herrig. “It’s embarrassing, and frankly, a total degradation of their positions for them to take these spurious legal actions in order to push forward their radical and unpopular agenda.”
These extreme actions by Tennessee Attorney General Skrmetti and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan are completely out of touch with their constituents. A 2023 poll from Global Strategy Group shows that an overwhelming majority support responsible investing – 72% think it’s important for companies to take actions on responsible investing issues. A majority of voters agree that financial managers should be allowed to consider environmental factors when making investing decisions.
Americans see through these spurious political attacks – and do not trust the politicians making them. Over 80% of Americans trust companies more than politicians when deciding whether they agree with a company’s stance on a social or political issue. Tennessee Attorney General Skrmetti and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan should stop these deceptive attacks and focus on issues their constituents desperately want their representatives to solve – like healthcare costs and inflation.
These attacks are not only unpopular, but also hurt the constituents Tennessee Attorney General Skrmetti and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan purportedly represent. The attacks from extreme politicians endanger “the financial stability of Americans’ retirement savings.” Projections have shown that these attacks could result in the loss of billions of dollars in returns for public pensions across the nation.
