Rep. Jim Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and two other House Republicans wrote four letters to the executives of large corporations like BlackRock and Vanguard, requesting an explanation of any corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives that might be in violation of federal antitrust laws.
The letters, which were sent to the leaders of Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street on Thursday, were first obtained by The Daily Caller. Republican Representatives Dan Bishop of North Carolina and Thomas Massie of Kentucky joined Jordan.
The lawmakers claim in each letter that the companies’ coordinated efforts and collusive agreements to “decarbonize” assets under management and achieve net-zero emissions may have been in violation of U.S. antitrust law.
GFANZ “is the world’s largest coalition of financial institutions committed to” net zero, and it “(c)oordinate(s) commitments and actions across the sector.” Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM
) is a sector-specific group within GFANZ that supports net zero goals and has more than 300 asset manager members, as well as over $59 trillion in assets under its management.
BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard are three of the world’s largest asset managers. BlackRock and State Street are members of both NZAM and a company named Climate Action 100+. Vanguard was also a member of NZAM until December 2022. Lawmakers say these companies appear to have colluded “to reach net zero emissions by 2050 or sooner across all assets under management.”
As many are attempting to phase out gas-powered vehicles and coal and oil power plants, reaching net zero emissions would severely harm the coal, gas, and oil industries.
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