Red States Have Slowed the ESG Juggernaut – WSJ

States have seized the initiative in resisting environmental, social and governance investing. These legislative efforts have been so successful that the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance recently published an article titled It s Time to Call a Truce in the Red State/Blue State ESG Culture War. ESG advocates are understandably concerned that what looked like a juggernaut is suddenly facing stiff opposition. But that s no reason to slow the effort. ESG either protects the retirement assets of hard working Americans or, as states are increasingly concluding, it doesn t.

Last year the American Legislative Exchange Council and the Heritage Foundation jointly proposed model legislation to stem the rise in ESG investing. Their proposal has served as the basis for states to require that asset managers focus exclusively on maximizing returns. These 10 states combined Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Montana, North Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia hold more than $500 billion in pension fund assets.

via www.wsj.com

Federalism once again to the rescue.