Ron DeSantis, the Governor of Florida, will head an 18-state alliance aimed at banning the use of ESG considerations in state and local pension funds.
According to ESG Today, the alliance will be aimed at coordinating actions to ‘protect individuals from the ESG movement’ including the banning of such considerations.
Back in February, DeSantis barred fund managers for state and local entities in the state from considering ESG factors in investment decisions and has also recently pulled $2bn from BlackRock over its use of ESG factors.
In a statement following the alliance formation, DeSantis said that the ESG movement ‘threatens the vitality of the American economy and Americans’ economic freedom’.
“At my direction, Florida has led the way in combatting the pernicious effects of the ESG regime by directing our state pension fund managers to reject ESG and instead focus on obtaining the highest return on investment for Florida’s taxpayers and retirees.”
The alliance said in the statement that they can work together and leverage their state pension funds to force key change in how major asset managers invest.
The statement by the Governor outlined a series of actions to be considered by the alliance, including blocking the use of ESG in all investment decisions at the state and local level, as well as prohibiting state fund managers from considering ESG factors in their investments on behalf of the state, as well as cutting the consideration of ESG factors in bond issues by state and local government.
In another key push, the alliance also plans to ban the use of ‘social credit scores’ by financial institutions in banking and lending practices.
DeSantis said, “The proliferation of ESG throughout America is a direct threat to the American economy, individual economic freedom, and our way of life, putting investment decisions in the hands of the woke mob to bypass the ballot box and inject political ideology into investment decisions, corporate governance, and the everyday economy.”
The states taking part in the alliance are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
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