Utah legislators discuss plans to oppose ESG (2023)
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Utah legislators last week voiced their frustrations with ESG investment tactics and pledged to oppose what Rep. Ken Ivory (R) described as “an effort to weaponize capital”:
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Utah legislators took aim this week at companies they fear are distorting financial markets with their environmental and social agendas, but the legislation they rolled out doesn’t appear to affect how Utah currently does business. “What we’ve seen lately is an effort to weaponize capital,” said Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, who is sponsoring one of the anti-ESG bills. ESG stands for environmental, social and governance, and it has become widely used in the financial and corporate worlds to gauge companies on their approach to climate change, social justice and other factors. More than 90% of S&P companies do some kind of ESG reporting. Ivory’s bill and others reflect a broad effort from Republican-controlled states to counter lenders and asset managers they say are abandoning fossil fuels and other industries for political reasons instead of following their fiduciary duty to maximize financial returns. Fossil fuel-producing states like Texas and West Virginia already have similar laws and have identified financial firms the state won’t do business with. The firms counter that it would be financially irresponsible to ignore ESG considerations. The bills are the culmination of months of legislative effort. There were more than 35 bill requests for anti-ESG legislation, but only four made it to introduced bills. In addition to Ivory’s bill, Sen. Chris Wilson, R-Logan, is sponsoring SB96 and SB97, companion bills intended to ensure any government investments are managed to those fiduciary goals and to limit government contracts to companies who will commit to not boycotting fossil fuel companies, gunmakers and others. Marlo Oaks, Utah’s state treasurer who has been a leader in the anti-ESG charge, praised the legislation in committee hearings on Capitol Hill, but he said in an interview that, in terms of how Utah government entities currently invest funds and contract for services, not much will change if these bills pass…. “We’re generally in a good position,” Oaks said. “This bill is reiterating what we’re already doing in the state. We’re focused on our fiduciary responsibilities.” He also said net-zero pledges or anti-gun statements signed by companies are not by themselves evidence that firms should be excluded. He said Utah government entities have a responsibility to get the best terms they can get on an investment or contract, and that could mean working with a company that has signed such pledges. “I have a fiduciary obligation to get the best deal that I can given all the circumstances.”[1] |
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See also
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's ESG newsletter
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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