Latest news with #anti-ESG
The Hill
11-08-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
With anti-DEI and ESG battles, Trump is waging war against freedom
In this first year of President Trump's second presidency, we are witnessing his outright contempt for freedom. We cannot let it prevail. Take free speech, for example. He claims he has 'brought free speech back to America,' yet he tolerates only the speech he finds acceptable. He punishes those who don't agree with him, including universities, law firms, and businesses that have policies Trump doesn't like. DEI and ESG are two of them. DEI emphasizes diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workforce, while ESG focuses on environmental stewardship, social justice, and good governance. Using executive orders and fiat, the president punishes states, businesses, and universities for these policies. In Trump's America, public and private institutions are not free to adopt policies and practices they consider important to their values and success. Trump's contempt for diversity extends to immigration. He panders to the element in America that believes migrants and immigrants are ' poisoning the blood of our country.' Actually, diversity adds character and strength to society, much as it does in nature. Trump invites us to indulge in intolerance, fear, and hegemony by characterizing the tired, poor, and terrified people at our borders as rapists, drug dealers, and 'very bad people.' Yet nobody works harder at being model citizens than people who have lived without liberty, security, and opportunity. On the first day of his second term as president, Trump called DEI programs in the federal government 'radical and wasteful.' He's entitled to his opinion as the CEO of the federal government, but he overreaches by using federal grants and contracts as a cudgel against DEI policies in universities and businesses. He is not the CEO of society. Trump argues that hiring policies should be based on merit rather than on sex and race, as though those attributes are mutually exclusive. Yet, he has hired the most unqualified Cabinet and team of presidential appointees in the nation's history, based not on merit but sycophancy. Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to block states from promoting ESG policies, especially in regard to climate change. He calls efforts to reduce fossil-fuel pollution 'burdensome and ideologically motivated.' The real burden is unmitigated global warming. Many red states are following his lead. So far this year, Republicans have introduced more than 100 anti-ESG bills in state legislatures; 11 have become law. They typically deny state funding to businesses and financial advisors who discourage investments in fossil fuels. DEI and ESG are among the many things conservatives ridicule as 'woke.' Trump says the U.S. will be 'woke no longer.' He and the far right should relax. A vibrant nation allows a free marketplace of ideas. It experiments with policies and trends. The good ones stand the test of time. The bad ones end up in the dustbin of history along with leisure suits, pet rocks, mullets, and disco. A few years from now, progressive Millennials and GenZers will wonder what they were thinking when they decided it was important to reveal their gender preferences with pronoun clusters on their business cards. America's attitudes toward immigration ebb and flow. In 1993, TIME magazine featured ' The New Face of America,' a computer-generated blend of several races, highlighting that immigrants shape a multicultural society. 'The face of America has been dramatically altered in the final years of the 20th century,' the editors wrote. 'America's face is not just about physiognomy, or even color, although endless varieties of each can be seen throughout the land. It is about the very complexion of the country, the endless and fascinating profusion of peoples, cultures, languages, and attitudes that make up the great national pool.' While the conservative pushback and Trump's cudgels are encouraging some companies to abandon formal DEI policies, analysts say an emphasis on diversity continues and is quietly evolving beneath the surface. A talent-advisory firm points out that ' DEI plays a fundamental role in market competitiveness and innovation … in a rapidly evolving global economy.' Most Americans agree. In April, the Public Religion Research Institute found that 70 percent of us prefer a nation of people from a wide variety of religions, 80 percent want the population to be from all over the world, and 64 percent disagree that 'immigrants are invading our country and replacing our culture and ethnic background.' Unfortunately, it also found that six in 10 Republicans still subscribe to the idea that immigrants threaten America's culture and white majority. The Great Replacement Theory is the karmic shadow of America's original great replacement, the racial and cultural genocide of Native Americans by white Europeans from 1492 into the early 20th century. Some demographers, however, disagree that white Americans are becoming the minority in America. They point out that racial intermarriage is blurring demographic distinctions. In 1958, Gallup found that only 4 percent of Americans approved of interracial marriage. By 2021, 94 percent approved. The Center for American Progress, a center-left think tank, points out that Great Replacement theorists want to stir toxic notions of racial superiority, stoke fear of immigrants and minorities for political ends, and cast whites as an embattled majority that must defend its power by any means necessary. Trump's animus for ESG is simpler. He prioritizes the security of the oil industry over the interests of the American people. As his EPA administrator puts it, his administration is 'driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion.' Yet, global warming is a matter of science, not faith. America will be 250 years old next year, but it is still a work in progress. It needs the freedom to explore new ideas and norms, even those that are woke and disruptive. They can help us achieve our new Manifest Destiny: greater respect between people and greater harmony between the human society and the natural world.
Axios
13-06-2025
- Business
- Axios
Scoop: Tucker Carlson buys out investors in his media company
Tucker Carlson and his business partner, Neil Patel, recently bought out investors in their media company, Tucker Carlson Network (TCN), a source familiar with the deal tells Axios. Why it matters: The deal gives the pair complete independence and total control of the company they co-founded in 2023. "It's hard to claim you're independent when other people own your company, so we decided not to take investments or loans of any kind," Carlson told Axios in a statement, confirming the deal. "Our business is owned by the people who work there. You can disagree with our opinions but you can't say we're paid to have them, and we're proud of that." Catch up quick: Carlson and Patel raised roughly $15 million for TCN from a group of investors in late 2023 after Carlson parted ways with Fox News. The pair have a long history, having co-founded the Daily Caller together in 2010. Patel currently serves as co-founder and CEO of TCN. The bulk of the cash raised for TCN came from 1789 Capital, which was founded by banker Omeed Malik to invest in "anti-ESG" companies. State of play: 1789 Capital's investment is structured as a SAFE (simple agreement for future equity), Axios reported. The SAFE structure allowed Carlson to convert his investors' cash into equity if he later chose to raise more money at a set valuation. Yes, but: When TCN became profitable more quickly than expected, they became less inclined to raise another round. And with no plans to sell the company, a buyout offered liquidity for existing investors. Because of TCN's profitability, investors saw a positive return on their investment, according to one source familiar with the transaction. Between the lines: The success of product investments outside of TCN also gave Carlson and Patel the confidence to buy back their company. Carlson and Patel launched a nicotine pouch product called ALP last year as a joint venture with Turning Point Brands, a publicly traded smoking accessories company. TPB's share price has skyrocketed by nearly 30% since ALP's launch announcement in November, reaching an all-time high last month. Before launching ALP, Carlson was a supporter of ZYN nicotine pouches, produced by tobacco giant Philip Morris International. He created a rival product after criticizing PMI over political donations made by the company's employees. What they're saying:"We have had a great start at TCN. We have also started other ventures, including our ALP nicotine pouch brand which has really taken off," Patel said in a statement to Axios. "This strong start gave us no need for outside capital and gave us the ability to buy out all of our investors and achieve absolute independence. We are grateful to our investors for backing us at our start and happy to have provided them a strong return on their investments." What's next: TCN's business is primarily driven by consumer subscriptions, as well as some advertising.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Vanguard to add four more funds to investor proxy choice program
This story was originally published on ESG Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily ESG Dive newsletter. Vanguard will expand its program allowing investors to choose individualized investment and engagement policies to four more funds in the second half of 2025, the company announced last week. The nation's second-largest asset manager said the program will include four index funds, allowing nearly 10 million investors to participate if they so choose, according to a May 29 release. The expansion will 'nearly quadruple' the assets under management to nearly $1 trillion in program eligible funds and bring the total number of funds eligible funds to 12. The program's expansion comes after an April Vanguard survey of more than 1,000 investors found 83% of respondents believed it was important for asset managers to consider investor preference when casting proxy votes, and 57% of respondents expressing interest in participating in proxy choice programs. Vanguard first launched its proxy voting choice pilot in February 2023 with three eligible equity funds, before including two additional index funds for the 2024 proxy season and adding three more in November to bring the total to eight eligible funds. The program gives participating investors five different policy options, allowing participants to align their votes with company boards, Vanguard's recommendations, Glass Lewis' ESG policy, a 'wealth-focused' anti-ESG policy from Egan-Jones or vote in proportion with other shareholders. Vanguard expanded its policy options for the 2025 proxy season to give investors the Egan-Jones policy option and replaced a former 'not voting' with the mirror voting policy. Additionally, November's expansion was the first time that retirement plan sponsors were allowed to participate if they have program eligible funds in their portfolio. Vanguard's Global Head of Investment Stewardship John Galloway said in last week's release that the program's continued expansion 'underscores [Vanguard's] confidence that a range of independent perspectives contributes to a healthy corporate governance ecosystem and well-functioning capital markets.' The expansion will add Vanguard's Value Index Fund, Growth Index Fund, Mid-Cap Index Fund and Large-Cap Index Fund to the program. The May 29 program expansion will also broaden its eligibility to 529 plan sponsors, according to the release. Two-thirds of investors who participated in Vanguard's April study (66%) said they would opt in to such a program if offered by their employer's retirement plan. However, the expanded eligibility does not guarantee expanded asset manager reported having 40,000 participants in the program after the 2024 proxy season, which Morningstar Sustainalytics' Director of Investment Stewardship Research Lindsey Stewart said at the time was a 'decent start,' but 'not a large proportion' of Vanguard's investors. Last September, Vanguard reported a plurality of participants — 43% — aligned their voting policy with the asset manager's recommendations in the 2024 proxy season and another 30% aligned their votes with company board recommendations. Under a quarter of participants (24.4%) chose the Glass Lewis ESG policy. Recommended Reading Vanguard's updated investor proxy choice program includes anti-ESG voting option Errore nel recupero dei dati Effettua l'accesso per consultare il tuo portafoglio Errore nel recupero dei dati Errore nel recupero dei dati Errore nel recupero dei dati Errore nel recupero dei dati
Bloomberg
03-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Investors Say They're Moving Away From ESG as ‘an Umbrella Concept'
While institutional asset owners such as pension funds and insurers say they remain committed to sustainable investing, they're less wedded to ESG as 'an umbrella concept.' They now widely treat ESG as three separate parts as opposed to a single strategy, according to a survey by Morningstar Inc. of 25 asset owners across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Until recently, the anti-ESG push has been concentrated in the US.
The Advertiser
29-05-2025
- Business
- The Advertiser
ESG inventor says Trump its 'best possible advert'
The man credited for coining "ESG" - environmental, social and governance - considers US President Donald Trump the ideal advertisement for responsible investment. Paul Clements-Hunt, a former United Nations official, said the Republican leader was illustrative of the pitfalls of "getting economics wrong" by fuelling social inequality. "Trump is the best possible advert for ESG, particularly the "G" at the governance level," he told a sustainable investment forum on Wednesday. The Blended Capital Group chief executive officer was pressed for his views on the percolating ESG backlash at the two-day Responsible Investment Association Australasia conference in Sydney. He spoke alongside Maria Lettini, chief executive officer at the US Sustainable Investment Forum and on the front line of the anti-ESG sentiment taking root in America. Ms Lettini said it was hard to keep up with efforts in the US to unwind and undermine climate change and ESG polices, such as potential roll-backs to renewable and clean tech incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act. Asked if responsible investment advocates were doing enough to defend ESG as a useful lens for delivering risk-adjusted returns, Ms Lettini recommended going "back to basics" on communication. "We need basic data, we are responding to clients wishes, we're responding to our fiduciary duty obligations," she said. "And it sounds a bit rolling back a couple of decades to be very dry with our responses, but that's what we are doing more." University of Melbourne professor of US politics Timothy Lynch was critical of ESG, describing it as a "terrible advert for what it is trying to do", reliant on "huge subsidy" and "management by elites". Prof Lynch posited the popular perception of ESG was of elites taking up incentives for clean energy while "forgetting the lived experience of many people that don't benefit". "It's too much concern with posturing and less with economic realities," he said. Mr Clements-Hunt said responsible investment was about identifying for-profit business models that delivered impact, including sanitation and clean energy in Sub-Saharan Africa. "I can't agree with that suggestion of lecturing to poor people," Mr Clements-Hunt countered. ESG was never intended as a political slogan to appeal to ordinary people, he said, but rather devised to change cultures within asset owner organisations. "It was just to ask the question, how do these systemic risks chew up your capital? And how do you unlock value in the long term?" Mr Clements-Hunt said it had largely "done its job" and was now embedded into the prudential oversight system and other financial frameworks. The man credited for coining "ESG" - environmental, social and governance - considers US President Donald Trump the ideal advertisement for responsible investment. Paul Clements-Hunt, a former United Nations official, said the Republican leader was illustrative of the pitfalls of "getting economics wrong" by fuelling social inequality. "Trump is the best possible advert for ESG, particularly the "G" at the governance level," he told a sustainable investment forum on Wednesday. The Blended Capital Group chief executive officer was pressed for his views on the percolating ESG backlash at the two-day Responsible Investment Association Australasia conference in Sydney. He spoke alongside Maria Lettini, chief executive officer at the US Sustainable Investment Forum and on the front line of the anti-ESG sentiment taking root in America. Ms Lettini said it was hard to keep up with efforts in the US to unwind and undermine climate change and ESG polices, such as potential roll-backs to renewable and clean tech incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act. Asked if responsible investment advocates were doing enough to defend ESG as a useful lens for delivering risk-adjusted returns, Ms Lettini recommended going "back to basics" on communication. "We need basic data, we are responding to clients wishes, we're responding to our fiduciary duty obligations," she said. "And it sounds a bit rolling back a couple of decades to be very dry with our responses, but that's what we are doing more." University of Melbourne professor of US politics Timothy Lynch was critical of ESG, describing it as a "terrible advert for what it is trying to do", reliant on "huge subsidy" and "management by elites". Prof Lynch posited the popular perception of ESG was of elites taking up incentives for clean energy while "forgetting the lived experience of many people that don't benefit". "It's too much concern with posturing and less with economic realities," he said. Mr Clements-Hunt said responsible investment was about identifying for-profit business models that delivered impact, including sanitation and clean energy in Sub-Saharan Africa. "I can't agree with that suggestion of lecturing to poor people," Mr Clements-Hunt countered. ESG was never intended as a political slogan to appeal to ordinary people, he said, but rather devised to change cultures within asset owner organisations. "It was just to ask the question, how do these systemic risks chew up your capital? And how do you unlock value in the long term?" Mr Clements-Hunt said it had largely "done its job" and was now embedded into the prudential oversight system and other financial frameworks. The man credited for coining "ESG" - environmental, social and governance - considers US President Donald Trump the ideal advertisement for responsible investment. Paul Clements-Hunt, a former United Nations official, said the Republican leader was illustrative of the pitfalls of "getting economics wrong" by fuelling social inequality. "Trump is the best possible advert for ESG, particularly the "G" at the governance level," he told a sustainable investment forum on Wednesday. The Blended Capital Group chief executive officer was pressed for his views on the percolating ESG backlash at the two-day Responsible Investment Association Australasia conference in Sydney. He spoke alongside Maria Lettini, chief executive officer at the US Sustainable Investment Forum and on the front line of the anti-ESG sentiment taking root in America. Ms Lettini said it was hard to keep up with efforts in the US to unwind and undermine climate change and ESG polices, such as potential roll-backs to renewable and clean tech incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act. Asked if responsible investment advocates were doing enough to defend ESG as a useful lens for delivering risk-adjusted returns, Ms Lettini recommended going "back to basics" on communication. "We need basic data, we are responding to clients wishes, we're responding to our fiduciary duty obligations," she said. "And it sounds a bit rolling back a couple of decades to be very dry with our responses, but that's what we are doing more." University of Melbourne professor of US politics Timothy Lynch was critical of ESG, describing it as a "terrible advert for what it is trying to do", reliant on "huge subsidy" and "management by elites". Prof Lynch posited the popular perception of ESG was of elites taking up incentives for clean energy while "forgetting the lived experience of many people that don't benefit". "It's too much concern with posturing and less with economic realities," he said. Mr Clements-Hunt said responsible investment was about identifying for-profit business models that delivered impact, including sanitation and clean energy in Sub-Saharan Africa. "I can't agree with that suggestion of lecturing to poor people," Mr Clements-Hunt countered. ESG was never intended as a political slogan to appeal to ordinary people, he said, but rather devised to change cultures within asset owner organisations. "It was just to ask the question, how do these systemic risks chew up your capital? And how do you unlock value in the long term?" Mr Clements-Hunt said it had largely "done its job" and was now embedded into the prudential oversight system and other financial frameworks. The man credited for coining "ESG" - environmental, social and governance - considers US President Donald Trump the ideal advertisement for responsible investment. Paul Clements-Hunt, a former United Nations official, said the Republican leader was illustrative of the pitfalls of "getting economics wrong" by fuelling social inequality. "Trump is the best possible advert for ESG, particularly the "G" at the governance level," he told a sustainable investment forum on Wednesday. The Blended Capital Group chief executive officer was pressed for his views on the percolating ESG backlash at the two-day Responsible Investment Association Australasia conference in Sydney. He spoke alongside Maria Lettini, chief executive officer at the US Sustainable Investment Forum and on the front line of the anti-ESG sentiment taking root in America. Ms Lettini said it was hard to keep up with efforts in the US to unwind and undermine climate change and ESG polices, such as potential roll-backs to renewable and clean tech incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act. Asked if responsible investment advocates were doing enough to defend ESG as a useful lens for delivering risk-adjusted returns, Ms Lettini recommended going "back to basics" on communication. "We need basic data, we are responding to clients wishes, we're responding to our fiduciary duty obligations," she said. "And it sounds a bit rolling back a couple of decades to be very dry with our responses, but that's what we are doing more." University of Melbourne professor of US politics Timothy Lynch was critical of ESG, describing it as a "terrible advert for what it is trying to do", reliant on "huge subsidy" and "management by elites". Prof Lynch posited the popular perception of ESG was of elites taking up incentives for clean energy while "forgetting the lived experience of many people that don't benefit". "It's too much concern with posturing and less with economic realities," he said. Mr Clements-Hunt said responsible investment was about identifying for-profit business models that delivered impact, including sanitation and clean energy in Sub-Saharan Africa. "I can't agree with that suggestion of lecturing to poor people," Mr Clements-Hunt countered. ESG was never intended as a political slogan to appeal to ordinary people, he said, but rather devised to change cultures within asset owner organisations. "It was just to ask the question, how do these systemic risks chew up your capital? And how do you unlock value in the long term?" Mr Clements-Hunt said it had largely "done its job" and was now embedded into the prudential oversight system and other financial frameworks.
