Skip to main content
Wrap-Ups

Unlocking America’s Future Weekly Wrap-Up: Virginia Attorney General Pushes Forward with Anti-ESG Campaign

August 23, 2024

This week in responsible investing, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is pushing forward with an anti-ESG campaign despite lawmakers making it clear that Virginians do not support these policies, the Republican Attorneys General Association was exposed in The Guardian for being funded by special interests groups linked to conservative billionaire Leonard Leo, and five of the largest pension funds pushed back against Rep. Jim Jordan’s attacks on ESG.

That and more below:

Virginia lawmakers voted down anti-responsible investing legislation, but the state’s attorney general is deploying an anti-ESG campaign anyway.

From UAF’s release: “State lawmakers have repeatedly made clear that Virginians do not support anti-ESG laws, but Attorney General Jason Miyares, who has taken over half a million dollars in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry, has nonetheless moved forward with a pressure campaign to attack responsible investments,” said Kyle Herrig, spokesperson for Unlocking America’s Future. “The research is clear – just look at states like Texas and Oklahoma. Should Virginia follow this advisory, it will hurt the state’s economy and the financial security of Virginians trying to save for retirement.” 

Lawmakers filed amicus briefs defending the U.S. S.E.C.’s climate risk disclosure rule.

From E&E: “Democratic legislators and state attorneys general are calling on a federal court to uphold the Biden administration’s embattled climate risk reporting rule, arguing that the regulation will provide critical information to investors. In briefs filed last week in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, elected officials — as well as environmental and consumer organizations — said the disclosure mandate from Wall Street’s top regulator will protect retirees and others who rely on investment income.”

The Guardian published an exposé on the Republican Attorneys General Association, an oil and gas company-backed organization behind some of the most extreme anti-climate campaigns across the country.

From The Guardian: “The Republican Attorneys General Association (Raga) has roped in about $5.8m from oil and gas giants and their allied lobbying groups since Joe Biden was elected president in 2020, campaign finance records show. Further, Raga has received a whopping $18.8m from the Leo-linked Concord Fund since 2014 when the dark money non-profit first registered with the IRS, according to the liberal-leaning Center for Media and Democracy. During the first half of 2024, the Concord Fund was the largest donor to Raga, plowing $2m into the group’s coffers. The Concord Fund, formerly called the Judicial Crisis Network, spent millions of dollars supporting Donald Trump’s three conservative supreme court nominees and is led by Leo’s longtime close associate Carrie Severino.”

Five of the largest public pension funds in the U.S. managing over $641 billion in assets are pointedly pushing back on the House Judiciary Committee and Chairman Jim Jordan’s (OH-04) probe into responsible investing. 

From UAF’s ICYMI: On July 30, Rep. Jordan sent  letters to over 130 U.S.-based companies, retirement systems, and government pension programs inquiring about their ties to Climate Action 100+, a coalition designed to accelerate emission reductions in accordance with the Paris Agreement. As reported in Responsible Investor, the responses from public pension funds make clear that responsible investing is here to stay and is consistent with their fiduciary duties, despite a well-coordinated pressure campaign backed by billionaires from the oil and gas industry to dismantle the investment practice. 

Read more: