market based solutions

9 22 much belated<div>
</div><div>recall montreal protocol bush reagan success half time and cost; Romneycare--> Obamacare</div><div>
</div><div>invisible hand of mircle free mkt only works if ppl have access to accurate info; ratings agencies do the analysis</div><div>but post trump earth2 we no longer believe in experts/facts
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</div><div>sparked by</div><div>
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</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/09/06/esg-companies-bankroll-gop-ags-the-very-officials-retaliating-against-their-climate-goals/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/09/06/esg-companies-bankroll-gop-ags-the-very-officials-retaliating-against-their-climate-goals/</a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">alex k</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div>the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) investigation has identified more than two dozen major U.S. companies that are publicly committed to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles yet have recently donated large amounts of campaign cash to a group of Republican state attorneys general that is hyper-focused on eroding air and water regulations, promoting fossil fuel companies, and using state governments to punish companies that try to limit their climate-related risks by divesting from oil, gas, and coal.Republican attorneys general, along with fellow GOP governors and state financial officers, are weaponizing their public offices to prevent action on climate change. Their latest efforts seek to bar companies that divest from fossil fuels or employ other ESG principles from receiving government contracts.And yet large U.S. companies such as AT&T, Cigna, Citigroup, Lowe’s, Pfizer, T-Mobile, and UPS—all of which publicly promote their commitment to ESG—have recently funded the political prosperity of these Republican AGs.<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 10px; word-spacing: 3.6px;">Contradictory Takes on Climate Change</h2>“Climate change is one of the most pressing global challenges,” the multinational brewing company Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) acknowledges in its <a href="https://www.ab-inbev.com/assets/pdfs/ABINBEV_ESG%202021_Final.pdf#page=22" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">2021 ESG report</a> for investors. “Our evolved understanding of potential climate-related risks and opportunities across our value chain continues to inform our long-term strategy.”AB InBev has set an ambitious climate goal for 2025, aiming to reduce its carbon emissions by 25% and purchase 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by then. In joining the international <a href="https://www.there100.org/re100-members?items_per_page=All" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">RE100</a> initiative to switch to 100% renewables, the company intends to achieve <a href="https://www.ab-inbev.com/sustainability/climate-action/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">net zero</a> greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.But the beer giant is one of the largest corporate funders of the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Republican_Attorneys_General_Association" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 153, 0); box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">Republican Attorneys General Association</a> (RAGA), a group of powerful state officials that has long attacked environmental regulations in the U.S. Members of RAGA—which receives substantial <a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2019/12/12/gop-state-attorneys-general-fight-environmental-regulations-fossil-fuel-companies-bankroll-campaigns/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">funding</a> from fossil fuel companies to support the reelection campaigns of these AGs—have filed legal challenges against Obama-era air and <a href="https://ago.wv.gov/Documents/2017.06.19%20WOTUS%20Comments.PDF" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">water pollution</a> regulations. Former Oklahoma AG Scott Pruitt is among those who have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/us/politics/energy-firms-in-secretive-alliance-with-attorneys-general.html?r=0" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">worked directly with fossil fuel lobbyists</a> to challenge these laws.Numerous other corporations have given large sums to RAGA for this year’s elections while publicly committing to ESG principles and, in many cases, to direct climate action.RAGA recently scored a big win in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/19/climate/supreme-court-climate-epa.html" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">West Virginia v. EPA</a> when the right-wing justices who now dominate the Supreme Court ruled against the agency, <a href="https://www.drilledpodcast.com/supreme-negligence/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">preventing</a> the Biden administration from regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act without going back to Congress for explicit authorization.<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 10px; word-spacing: 3.6px;">Retaliating Against “Energy Discrimination” </h2>As the Right gets more extreme in the U.S., climate-denying Republicans have added a new weapon to their arsenal: attacking financial firms that decrease their investments in fossil fuels.GOP attorneys general and financial officers are joining state lawmakers in <a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/03/alec-launches-attack-on-banks-that-divest-from-fossil-fuels/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background: 0px 0px; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">penalizing</a> investment firms that divest from fossil fuel companies. Although they are members of a political party ostensibly committed to a free market, these GOP officials are meddling in corporate decision-making by trying to prevent executives from limiting the enormous financial risk posed by the effects of climate change—likely the biggest economic challenge of the century.As with their outcry about critical race theory supposedly being taught in American schools, GOP politicians are attempting to cast climate action as a culture war issue, branding routine practices such as ESG disclosures to investors and divesting from a waning fossil fuel industry as “woke.”In 2021, Texas enacted a law to root out alleged “energy discrimination,” seeking to prevent investment firms that decrease their stakes in oil, gas, and coal from managing the state’s pension and other funds. After the law passed, the energy task force of the ultra-conservative, corporate-funded <a href="https://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">American Legislative Exchange Council</a> (ALEC) approved a <a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/12/03/alec-launches-attack-on-banks-that-divest-from-fossil-fuels/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">model bill</a> with similar language, directing state treasurers or comptrollers to maintain a list of firms that have divested from fossil fuels and to only issue government contracts to businesses with more than 10 employees that verify their allegiance to fossil fuels. In the past year or so, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/challenge-investing-face-state-anti-esg-legislation-2022-08-24/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">similar legislation</a> has been introduced in at least 15 states and has already passed in four. On Aug. 24, Texas <a href="https://comptroller.texas.gov/about/media-center/news/20220824-texas-comptroller-glenn-hegar-announces-list-of-financial-companies-that-boycott-energy-companies-1661267815099" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">released</a> its first list of firms that allegedly “boycott energy companies,” including BlackRock, Credit Suisse, and UBS.<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 10px; word-spacing: 3.6px;">Dubious Claims</h2>On Aug. 4, 19 GOP attorneys general sent a <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/images/executive-management/BlackRock%20Letter.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">letter</a> to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink accusing his firm of making ESG investments that “force the phase-out of fossil fuels, increase energy prices, drive inflation, and weaken the national security of the United States.”Claims like this are histrionic and often baseless. For example, BlackRock has invested more than <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/167550/desantis-anti-esg-movement" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">$108 billion</a> in Texas-based energy companies, and this year it plans to support proportionally <a href="https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/literature/publication/commentary-bis-approach-shareholder-proposals.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">fewer ESG shareholder resolutions</a> than it did last year. And while Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and his allies from other states claim that ESG investing hurts their pension funds, academic studies like a <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4123366" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">recent one</a> undertaken by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago refute this. In fact, since Texas passed its anti-ESG law last year, the UPenn/Fed study indicates that it has already cost the state between $303 and $532 million, as Kate Aronoff <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/167550/desantis-anti-esg-movement" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">points out</a> in The New Republic.Other evaluations of ESG investing are mixed, but when researchers from the New York University Stern Center for Sustainable Business and Rockefeller Asset Management analyzed over 1,000 relevant research papers from 2015–20, they found that a majority of the studies indicated ESG investing leads to either neutral or improved financial performance. The <a href="https://www.stern.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/assets/documents/NYU-RAM_ESG-Paper_2021%20Rev_0.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">meta-analysis</a> points out that “improved financial performance due to ESG becomes more marked over longer time horizons.”Despite these findings, Republican state AGs and other officials have accelerated their attacks on climate action—a central tenet of ESG investing—in the past few years.In August, Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and the trustees of the State Board of Administration voted to <a href="https://www.ai-cio.com/news/desantis-and-allies-bar-florida-sba-from-esg-investing/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">ban its investment managers</a> from using ESG considerations in managing its portfolio of roughly $245 billion, primarily from the Florida Retirement System Pension Plan. Florida’s AG Ashley Moody (R) joined the governor in supporting the move. In May, Kentucky’s AG Daniel Cameron (R) issued an <a href="https://ag.ky.gov/Resources/Opinions/Opinions/OAG%2022-05.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">opinion</a> barring investment managers doing government business from employing ESG principles. On Sept. 1, Indiana’s AG Todd Rokita (R) <a href="https://www.indianaenvironmentalreporter.org/posts/rokita-environmental-factors-in-public-retirement-funds-promote-leftist-agenda" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">did the same</a>.Meanwhile, right-wing entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is cashing in on the GOP’s anti-ESG and anti-woke craze, as CMD <a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2022/08/01/financial-firm-cashes-in-on-the-anti-woke-crusade/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">recently reported</a>. His firm Strive Asset Management (DRLL) is trying to pull business away from the Big Three asset managers in red states. It recently announced that it has <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-24/anti-esg-firm-plans-new-etfs-after-first-fund-draws-250-million" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">raised $250 million</a> thanks to large investments from far-right tech mogul <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Peter_A.Thiel" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">Peter Thiel</a> and his affiliated groups.Not only are GOP AGs targeting asset managers that reduce fossil fuel investments, but they’re going after regulators and ratings agencies as well.In June, Paxton spearheaded a <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/global/Texas%20Comment%20Letter%20re%20SEC%20Proposed%20Rules%20(Final%206.17.2022).pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">letter</a> from a group of 12 Republican AGs to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opposing its proposed corporate disclosure requirements around sustainability. The rule would require firms to back up their claims of purportedly green or socially aware investments. Twenty-one GOP AGs sent another <a href="https://ago.wv.gov/Documents/2022.08.16%20ESG%20Funds%20Comment.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">letter</a> of opposition to the SEC on Aug. 16.“The woke left is going full throttle in their mission to change every facet of American life… and erode our democratic institutions to suit their liberal agenda,” <a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/red-states-decry-woke-left-sec-proposal-for-esg-investing/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">said</a> West Virginia’s AG Patrick Morrisey (R).In late July, Missouri’s AG Eric Schmitt (R) <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/exclusive-missouri-attorney-general-investigates-morningstar-over-esg-ratings-2022-08-03/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 102); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">launched an investigation</a> into whether Morningstar, a financial research and rating company, violated a state consumer-protection law by evaluating ESG issues. A few weeks later, <a href="https://ago.mo.gov/home/news/2022/08/17/18-state-ags-join-missouri-s-investigation-into-esg-ratings-company-morningstar-and-its-subsidiary-sustainalytics" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 102); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">18 other AGs</a> joined the probe. Schmitt and 16 other attorneys general are also trying to <a href="https://www.governing.com/next/missouri-and-other-ags-try-to-block-californias-ev-goals" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">block California from setting its own vehicle emissions standards</a>.At the same time, the nonprofit <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=State_Financial_Officers_Foundation" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 153, 0); box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">State Financial Officers Foundation</a> (SFOF) and its members are doing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/05/climate/republican-treasurers-climate-change.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 102); box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">all they can</a> to prop up fossil fuel companies and punish firms that divest from oil, gas, and coal. In West Virginia, state Treasurer Riley Moore <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/business/west-virginia-fossil-fuel-banks.html" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 102); box-sizing: inherit; transition: all 500ms ease-in-out 0s;">told</a> five financial companies—the banks Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo, as well as BlackRock—that they would no longer be eligible for state contracts because they have reduced financing for coal projects.<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 10px; word-spacing: 3.6px;">Corporate Code of Silence ...</h2></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div></div></div>