House Republican Anti-ESG Efforts Flail on Policy, Devolve into a Corporate Grievance Spectacle
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two subcommittees of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee will hold simultaneous anti-ESG hearings today. The Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy will hold a hearing entitled “Climate-Risk: Are Financial Regulators Politically Independent?” and the Subcommittee on Capital Markets will hold a hearing entitled “Oversight of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance.” In response, Tracey Lewis, policy counsel for Public Citizen’s Climate Program, issued the following statement:
“Today closes out a sad chapter in the GOP-run House Financial Services Committee. In what seems like a desperate attempt to appear as if they are doing something for their deep-pocketed oil, gas, and coal dark money funders, committee Republicans have tried and failed to make ESG the CRT of 2023. They are fomenting a contrived culture war for Big Oil that puts short-term profits above protecting our communities and our future.
“As insurance companies end coverage for individuals across the country, wildfire smoke blankets the East Coast, and a world-wide heat wave sets terrifying new records, downplaying the risk climate plays in our financial system is dangerous. While Republican lawmakers play games, climate related financial shocks pose a real threat to our financial system. Shifting corporate investment away from the perpetrators of the climate crisis will protect us all.”
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