(The Center Square) – One North Carolina company is among more than 130 in the United States being asked by a congressional committee about involvement with environmental, social and governance initiative Climate Action 100+.
U.S. Reps. Deborah Ross and Dan Bishop, a Democrat and Republican respectively from North Carolina, are among the 42 members of the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives seeking answers. In addition to the letter sent to Charlotte-headquartered Barings, the probe also seeks answers on involvement by retirement systems and government pension programs.
The probe and letters dated last Tuesday to Climate Action 100+ is trying to find answers to how the companies are operating with tactics, requests and actions; and garner documentations. A noon Aug. 13 deadline is set for responses.
Antitrust law, and the possible breach of it, is cited in each letter. Antitrust laws, the Department of Justice says, “prohibit anticompetitive conduct and mergers that deprive American consumers, taxpayers, and workers of the benefits of competition.”
An interim report by the Judiciary – Climate Control: Exposing the Decarbonization Collusion in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing – labels the initiative a “climate cartel,” one which is involved in collusion and has not been investigated by the Biden administration.
“The climate cartel has declared war on our way of life, escalating its attacks on free markets and demanding that companies slash output of the critical products and services that allow Americans to drive, fly, and eat,” the report says. “The Biden administration has failed to act upon the climate cartel’s apparent violations of longstanding U.S. antitrust law. The committee, in contrast, is actively investigating their anticompetitive behavior.”
The report says with launch of the probe came withdrawals from the effort by BlackRock, State Street and JPAM, “three of the world’s largest asset managers.” Asset managers BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard own 21.9% of shares, and vote 24.9% of the shares, within the Standard and Poor’s (S&P) 500.
More than 272,000 documents and 2.5 million pages of nonpublic information were reviewed, the Judiciary says.
Most of the letters went to addresses in New York, Massachusetts and California.
Barings, according to its website, “is a global asset management firm which seeks to deliver excess returns across public and private markets in fixed income, real assets and capital solutions.”
In general, ESG investing – an acronym used in conjunction with environmental, social, and governance policies in investments – measures company policy. These policies typically align with progressive, or left, thoughts when it comes to politics.
Other names of description are sustainability, such as treatment of natural resources, gas emissions and climate regulations. A company’s policies for profits shared in the community, and how health and safety are impacted, relates to the social aspect. Governance usually aligns not only with integrity of accountability toward shareholders, but also diversity in leadership.
Issues in a company’s industry and the principles of ESG often shape policy.
Bishop is a member of the Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust within the Judiciary Committee. The 26-member subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.