National Association of Attorneys General Invests Taxpayer Money in ESG
The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) uses taxpayer funds to invest in companies that promote left-wing ESG goals.
NAAG, an organization that claims to be a “national, nonpartisan forum” for state attorneys general, has seen conservative attorneys general disassociate due to NAAG’s leftist bias.
The organization responded to a request from Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach (right) regarding its investments in entities that push left-leaning environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices that “destroy shareholder value in the pursuit of fanciful ideological goals, often without proper disclosure to investors.
“Good evening and although it is late, we thought it was important to share this information with our members in response to a Breitbart article published today questioning NAAG’s investment policy,” said Thursday an email from NAAG Executive Director Brian Kane to members. “Earlier today, I provided Attorney General Kobach with a list of NAAG’s investments.”
While Kane writes “there is no mention of ESG or any other consideration that does not conform to the Uniform Prudent Investor Rule,” fund line items clearly show investment in ESG-oriented entities like BlackRock and DFA Emerging Markets Social Core Equity Fund.
“Based on how I have seen NAAG operate, this revelation is not shocking,” Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen (R) told Breitbart News. “It seems that they don’t know how the money is invested or that they are trying to hide the fact that there are investments in ESG related funds. Either way, this is not acceptable and this way of doing business is the reason I stopped using Montana taxpayers’ money to pay NAAG dues.
Knudsen left NAAG along with several other attorneys general because of the organization’s leftist bias.
“There’s absolutely no way to tell that ESG isn’t integrated into the investments shown on NAAG’s investment disclosure sheet,” Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, told Breitbart. News. “Part of the ESG scam is that large asset managers use shares held in funds without an ‘ESG’ or ‘Sustainable’ label to advance their ESG agenda.”
“Take for example NAAG’s largest holding, State Street’s S&P500 index fund. State Street has used the assets of this fund, even though it is not labeled ESG, to advance a political agenda,” he continued. “That even includes scolding companies in shareholder votes for donating to Conservative candidates. Any assets invested by major ESG pushers like State Street, BlackRock or Vanguard can and are employed by these companies to advance the leftist agenda, regardless of what label they put on the fund.
Among the goals of the ESG are the imposition of economic and social change by reducing US fossil fuel production to promote the climate change agenda and imposing racial quotas on corporate boards.
The DFA Emerging Markets Social Core Equity Fund, for example, “seeks to buy securities that match the social criteria of the Portfolio. … The Portfolio seeks to exclude from its investment portfolio companies that are identified by the Portfolio’s social issue filters.
A social issues screen would prohibit investments in companies that “have high carbon or greenhouse gas emissions or reserves that could produce those emissions; and/or (13) have significant exposure to charcoal.
Moreover, BlackRock is one of the most powerful organizations promoting such an ideology, while maintaining a steady stream of US property purchases, driving up housing prices for American families.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink perhaps best described the ESG movement when he said, “Society is increasingly looking to businesses, public and private, to solve pressing social and economic problems. These issues range from environmental protection to retirement to gender and racial inequalities.
“Behaviors are going to have to change, and that’s one thing we’re asking companies, you have to force behaviors and at BlackRock we force behaviors,” Fink also said.
See NAAG’s investments here:
Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.
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