During a press conference Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis blasted the woke agenda of ESGs and the politicization of the economy in Florida and across the country.
- Environmental – climate change – resource depletion – waste and pollution – deforestation
- Social – working conditions, including use of child labor – local communities – conflicts – health and safety – employee relations and diversity
- Governance – executive pay – corruption – political affiliations and donations – board compensation, diversity and structure – tax strategy
According to CG Lytics, ESG investing focuses on the “ethical investments” listed above, not the maximization of shareholder values gained through traditional financial metrics.
“What we’re doing in Florida today, we’re taking a stand…we don’t want to see the economy further politicized, and we want to push back against the politicization that has already happened.”
DeSantis said that entitlement-minded individuals within corporations think their employer should “emote the same political value” as the employee and push for it from inside. However, he added there is a power play in progress in the leadership of some organizations.
“Some of these folks want to exercise power over the rest of us,” the governor, shaping society through policy based on their ideological views.
“Our investment of funds should be for the best interest of our beneficiaries…not a vehicle to impose an ideological agenda.”
The governor blasted financial institutions for colluding with one another to marginalize people with a difference of political opinion, noting, “That is not the way you can run an economy effectively.”
He pinpointed that the fiduciary duty and obligation of CEOs or Fund Managers – to work toward maximizing the best interest of shareholders – will be set clearly in Florida statute, and questionable practices will be “nipped in the bud.” He made it plain that discrimination in the financial sector was not acceptable in Florida.
“Basically, this is the global elite weaponizing America capitalism against us,” Rep. Paul Renner said. “It is both a national security issue and a pocketbook issue.”
Renner laid out how large banks and corporations were pursuing, aiding and abetting the woke agenda that is artificially driving up costs. He noted there are reasons why oil refineries aren’t under construction and drilling for oil isn’t happening in the U.S.
The representative singled out the financial institutions following the ESG woke agenda, choking lending ability to accomplish the task. He claimed the same is occurring in border security and the agriculture industry.
“They’re undermining our energy security and driving up prices,” Renner said. “They’re undermining our border security; they’re driving up food prices and undermining our food security.”
Renner questioned what different actions would be needed if someone was trying to take down a great nation. He noted that even though the voting booth designates the direction Floridians want to go, the representative laid bare the ESG advocate’s stranglehold.
“These people don’t care; the next day, they’re still going to be trying to choke off our energy independence, open our borders, choke off our agriculture sector and basically weaken this country for their own woke agenda. We will not relent until we begin dismantling the dangerous form of ESG,” Renner declared.
DeSantis emphasized that ESG funds perform poorly, and those controlling them are “subordinating returns in order to advance ideology.” He stressed its lack of effectiveness.
The governor homed in on the devastation should the vision of ESG policy come to fruition.
“It will be devasting to agricultural and devasting in particular for low-income people and really poorer countries around the world. They’re gonna be absolutely devasted.”
While indicating the massive implications involved, he slammed the World Economic Forum with, “You have a handful of people in Davos deciding all of this, that this is how we’re supposed to live? Not on my watch, not here in the State of Florida.”
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