Ron DeSantis Leads 18 States in Alliance Fighting Biden’s ESG

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), along with the governors of 18 other states, is taking action against President Joe Biden’s environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) agenda.

DeSantis, along with the governors of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming are forming what they have described as an “alliance” pushing back against Biden’s radical ESG agenda — a leftist form of activism used to influence corporations and Wall Street to consider partisan political positions unrelated to their actual businesses or organizations in their decision-making or investment actions.

The joint statement reads:

The proliferation of ESG throughout America is a direct threat to the American economy, individual economic freedom, and our way of life, putting investment decisions in the hands of the woke mob to bypass the ballot box and inject political ideology into investment decisions, corporate governance, and the everyday economy.

“We as freedom loving states can work together and leverage our state pension funds to force change in how major asset managers invest the money of hardworking Americans,” it also states, adding, “ensuring corporations are focused on maximizing shareholder value, rather than the proliferation of woke ideology.”

DeSantis said in a statement, “At my direction, Florida has led the way in combatting the pernicious effects of the ESG regime by directing our state pension fund managers to reject ESG and instead focus on obtaining the highest return on investment for Florida’s taxpayers and retirees.”

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This effort comes on the heels of DeSantis calling for legislation addressing ESG and ending woke banking and “political ideology” in investment decisions.

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That proposed legislation, specifically, would stop the financial sector from considering “Social Credit Scores” in banking and “prohibiting the use of ESG in all investment decisions at the state and local level,” according to the press release.

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