Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District “Some of the largest corporations in the world are using their influence and boardroom seats to advance progressive priorities at the expense of American jobs.” A VIEW FROM THE CAPITOL We continue to see a pattern in our country that I’m sure you, as bankers, are well aware of. Political agendas, specifically climate change, are seeping into areas that have absolutely nothing to do with them. Through the guise of Environmental Social and Corporate Governance (ESG), progressives within the government and corporate America are taking outspoken positions on political and social issues that should have no bearing on business. ESG began as a fabricated metric to illustrate a perceived “enlightenment” that has transformed into a control tactic over corporate America. The parameters for who is “environmentally responsible” and who is not are murky at best. For example, Exxon Mobile received a higher ESG rating than Tesla. Not surprisingly, that rating change occurred when Elon Musk threatened to make public the inner workings of Twitter. No neutral observer could honestly argue that the ratings have anything to do with governance. It’s simply about applying political pressure on businesses to declare themselves aligned with the left, often at the expense of serving their customers, paying their workers, and supporting their local economies. In the House Financial Services Committee, we saw a perfect example of the control some elected officials try to attain through ESG. In a hearing with seven bank CEOs, Congresswoman Rashida Talib demanded that each bank commits no further financing of fossil fuel production. Fortunately, the witnesses understood the real-world effects of that disastrous idea and did not satisfy the Congresswoman’s demand. Another even more troubling example is the proposed SEC Climate Rule. The SEC proposes that companies calculate and report the “climate-related risks” associated with their products and operations. That includes the emissions of every supplier and a prediction of the future emissions their products may create after the sale. Publicly traded banks would be charged with filing a disclosure for all their business customers. While that wouldn’t directly affect MIBA members, if ESG/INDEX ACT 10 | The Show-Me Banker Magazine
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