{"id":223492,"date":"2022-10-12T17:56:53","date_gmt":"2022-10-12T15:56:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=223492"},"modified":"2022-10-12T17:56:57","modified_gmt":"2022-10-12T15:56:57","slug":"louisiana-fires-shot-across-blackrocks-esg-bow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=223492","title":{"rendered":"Louisiana Fires Shot Across BlackRock\u2019s ESG Bow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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No longer willing to stand idly by while a Wall Street behemoth carries out a financial war against his state\u2019s economy, Louisiana State Treasurer John Schroder Oct. 5 sent a letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink announcing that the \u201cLouisiana Treasury will liquidate all BlackRock investments by the end of 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pelican State\u2019s divestment will come to a stately $794 million. BlackRock, the world\u2019s largest investment management company, presides over $10 trillion in assets and has the heft to absorb the hit Louisiana delivered. But the company\u2019s woke environmental, social, and governance (ESG) agenda is making enemies elsewhere, and other states may soon follow Louisiana\u2019s example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his letter to Fink, Schroder made clear why BlackRock\u2019s hostility to nearly all things Louisiana would no longer be tolerated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour blatant anti-fossil fuel policies would destroy Louisiana\u2019s economy,\u201d Schroder wrote. \u201cThis divestment is necessary to protect Louisianans from actions and policies that would actively seek to hamstring our fossil-fuel sector.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Louisiana is one of the nation\u2019s top oil and natural gas producers. Nearly one-quarter of the state\u2019s gross domestic product is tied to the industry, according to an analysis by the American Petroleum Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn my opinion,\u201d Schroder wrote to Fink, \u201cyour support of ESG investing is inconsistent with the best economic interests and values of Louisiana. I cannot support an institution that would deny our state the benefits of one of its most robust assets. Simply put, we cannot be party to the crippling of our own economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBlackRock\u2019s Quixotic Climate Agenda\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other states whose pension funds are invested with BlackRock have put the company on notice that their patience is running out. In August, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and 18 other attorneys general wrote a letter to Fink stating, \u201cOur states will not Idly stand for our pensioners\u2019 retirements to be sacrificed for BlackRock\u2019s climate agenda. The time has come for BlackRock to come clean on whether it actually values our states\u2019 most valuable stakeholders, our current and future retirees, or risk losses even more significant than those risked by BlackRock\u2019s quixotic climate agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A key element of BlackRock\u2019s \u201cquixotic climate agenda\u201d is ESG, a subject near and dear to Fink\u2019s heart but one at odds with state retirees who are supposed to benefit from sound, as opposed to politically driven, investments. \u201cEnvironmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing is contrary to Louisiana law on fiduciary duties,\u201d Schroder pointed out to Fink,\u201d which requires a sole focus on financial returns for the beneficiaries of state funds. Focusing on ESG\u2019s political and social goals and placing those goals above the duty to enhance investors\u2019 returns is unacceptable under Louisiana law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schroder is one of many to point out that BlackRock uses ESG to pad its fees, even though ESG funds perform poorly compared with non-ESG funds. \u201cRecently BlackRock set a record for \u2018the largest amount of money lost by a single fund over a six-month period\u2019 having \u2018lost $1.7 trillion of clients\u2019 money\u2019 associated with ESG accounts \u2026 Such huge losses would seem to indicate that BlackRock is either not focused on investor returns or that its ESG investment strategy is flawed. Neither bodes well for investors,\u201d Schroder reminded Fink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m convinced that ESG investing is more than bad business; it\u2019s a threat to our founding principles: democracy, economic freedom, and individual liberty,\u201d Schroder continued. \u201cIt threatens our democracy, bypasses the ballot box, and allows large investment firms to push political agendas. It threatens our economic freedom because these firms use their massive shareholdings to compel CEOs to put political motivations above a company\u2019s profits and investors\u2019 returns. Finally, it threatens our personal liberty because these firms are using our money to push their agendas contrary o the best interests of the people whose money they are using!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Chris Talgo, senior editor at the Heartland Institute, points out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSchroder is spot-on; ESG is dangerous on many fronts because it is a backdoor of sorts wherein giant asset management companies that are in bed with big government can compel corporations to do their bidding, even if their goals do not align (and in many cases conflict with) with the very people whose money they are investing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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