Major Development: The House Voted On Tuesday To End Joe Biden’s “Woke” Environment, Social, And Governance (ESG) Rule

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The GOP-majority House voted to end a controversial rule by the Biden administration that encourages private retirement plan fiduciaries to invest in companies with better environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores. 

This rule is aimed at private companies making investment decisions for millions of Americans. The government should not be involved in its decision-making when it comes to investments. 

Some House Democrats beg to differ. 

Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va said, “Consideration of ESG factors is not at odds with making a profit, but if a company has negative externalities, such as carbon-intensive business practices, vulnerability to sea-level rise, high liability risks or a record of mistreating workers who may go on strike, its stock could suffer in the long term.”

Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., said the rule from the Labor Department is “a recognition that if a company is inherently risky because of the business they do on their internal practices, its stock could suffer in the long run.”

In other words, any business that Leftists consider risky could suffer because of the policies they plan to implement that will punish any type of business they don’t like.

It’s the old “It would be a shame if your business burned down” game used by mobsters. Only now it’s the federal government doing the bullying.

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C. recognizes the tactic. She said, “The left is using ESG investment criteria as a political tool to cudgel companies into accepting leftist policies. This is how the left always operates. This is just the first step. If we let this continue, the left will use ESG investing to push non-compliant companies out of the marketplace.”

“It is unacceptable to encourage fiduciaries to sacrifice the savings of Americans to the orthodoxy of the woke left,” she added.

“This is an ideological push on corporations,” said Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis. “This to further push down on them and say, ‘Here you are, Mr. Big Corporation, we’ll give you a nice pat on the back if we use all of your stockholders’ money to promote a political agenda.’”

“It’s this pound, pound, pound that we already get from the universities, we already get from the popular culture in Hollywood, now we’ve got to get it from big business,” he said.

The climate movement has become a religion. It is forced on our kids at schools and universities, it dominates public policy, and even though many scientists debunked their dire predictions, it is never-ending.

Another representative from VA, Bob Good, said the rule is all about supporting the “phony climate movement,” and he added that if ESG stocks were the better-performing choices, “They would get those investment dollars anyway without this new rule.”

So rather than focusing on profitability and return on investment (ROI), fiduciaries would have to follow federal guidelines permitting them to consider companies only regarding how they approach climate change and other social issues touted by the Left.

Republicans called it “a recipe for tanking millions of investment accounts.” The resolution to kill the rule passed in a vote of 216 to 204 with only one Democrat voting in favor of it.