NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / November 3, 2022 / Antea Group
During the latest election cycle, it’s been almost impossible to ignore the controversy swirling around ESG investing in certain corners of the political arena.
As a business leader who is vested in the financial and regulatory implications of ESG going forward, you might find yourself wondering what’s driving the criticism, and what it all might mean to the future of corporate sustainability.
Here we’ll try to brush aside all of the bluster and noise to provide a clear look at what’s happening, so you can move forward informed.
Why is ESG investing under political fire?
Former vice president Mike Pence penned an op-ed for the Washington Post earlier this year expressing his objections to ESG, decrying the bias inherent to its evaluation. Other politicians have labeled it a “scam,” and even taken the step to eliminate ESG considerations from state pension investments.
The argument submitted by critics, in a nutshell, is that heavy-handed regulation under the name of “environmental extremism” is stalling current and future economic growth. However, the disconnect with this viewpoint is that – as Andew Petillon, former SEC attorney, pointed out in a response to the Washington Post column for Slate – it is politicians who are trying to override the free market, where millions of investors have decided ESG is what they want.
To that end, Petillon noted that ESG…
