Texas Squares Off Against Leftist Effort to Hijack American Markets with ESG

Austin, TX, 43 mins ago — During the lengthy Senate State Affairs Committee hearing last December on state pensions and the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) movement in finance, one phrase was thrown around more than any other with little agreement on its implication: “fiduciary responsibility.”Momentum toward further rebuke of ESG — a financial scoring system for companies based on their adherence to certain progressive ideals such as support of a net-zero carbon transition or opposition to abortion restrictions — is building in the Texas Legislature, now approaching a crescendo during this 88th regular session.

Last session, the state laid the groundwork by passing Senate Bill (SB) 13; that law requires the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts to compile a pension divestment list of companies deemed to be divesting from or sanctioning fossil fuels. Any pension dollars tied to those companies on the list — either through direct investments or exchange-traded funds — are to be removed and reinvested elsewhere.