House Judiciary Committee hearings step up the assault on Shareholder Rights ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

[Image alt text: As You Sow® banner with logo, image of mountains and a lake, and text saying: The nation’s leading non-profit shareholder advocate, with a 30+ year track record of changing corporations for good. Plus a special stamp saying UPDATE.] < [link removed] > Dear John,

Yesterday, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Subcommittee released a report and held a public hearing to escalate their assault on As You Sow and shareholder rights.

As You Sow, one of 14 groups the Republican-led Judiciary Committee is “investigating” for alleged antitrust activities, was not invited to publicly testify – instead, we were referenced 23 times in the Committee’s Majority Report < [link removed])%20Investing.pdf?_gl=1*muyg64*_ga*NDMxNTg1NDM5LjE3MTc3NzY3MDE.*_ga_1818ZEQW81*MTcxODEyODY4MC44LjAuMTcxODEyODY4MC4wLjAuMA > and 35 times in the Minority Report
< [link removed] > . Quotes from the prior testimony of our CEO Andrew Behar and our President Danielle Fugere were featured in Subcommittee Chair Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) opening remarks and taken out of context by other Republicans. The clear goal of this Republican juggernaut is to dismantle the basic right of all shareholders to ask companies in their portfolios to reduce climate risk.

We are proud that our work is so infuriating to the far right. The reality is that we must also vigorously defend not only ourselves, but shareholders’ rights to engage and companies’ rights to take climate action.

Will you help? < [link removed] >

In his Forward to the Minority Report, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) said, “Through environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) investment strategies, private investors are working together in an attempt to solve the world’s most pressing problems—chief among them, global climate change… There is no theory of antitrust law that prevents private investors from working together to capture the risks associated with climate change. There is certainly no antitrust law that prevents investors from asking corporations how they plan to transition to a climate-resilient economy… The Majority did not find evidence of wrongdoing…but that was never the point. Their purpose was to use the Committee as a cudgel, and to bully investors into withdrawing from ESG partnerships.”

In the hearing, Rep. Frank Johnson (D-GA) laid out the larger issue clearly, “Mr. Chairman, we are here because MAGA Republicans are doing the bidding of dark money groups with ties to former Trump administration officials, the oil and gas industry, and far right donors like Leonard Leo and the Koch brothers.”

Eric Swalwell (D-CA) noted that anti-ESG laws have led to red state pension funds’ underperformance, comparing CalPERS’ 2022-2023 return of 6.1% to the 3.85% return of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas – the largest pension fund in the state of Texas – which is saddled with anti-ESG prohibitions. Swalwell pointed out that “Everything is bigger in Texas – except the return on their pension fund, because of their anti ESG policies.”

The Republican-authored Majority Report absurdly concluded, after 18 months of investigation and review of 2.5 million pages of documents, that “a climate cartel” of left-wing environmental activists and major financial institutions has colluded to force American companies to “decarbonize” and reach “net zero”…The climate cartel imposes these radical policies by weaponizing ever-escalating pressure tactics that start with negotiations with corporate management, continue to filing and “flagging” stockholder proxy resolutions, and culminate with taking out the boards of directors at “recalcitrant companies.” The framing of legitimate shareholder advocacy as “weaponizing” is exactly what this Committee is doing– abusing its power in order to intimidate and threaten shareholders and disable As You Sow’s theory of change – that successful companies must address critical environmental, social, and governance issues and shareholders can help them do it. The Committee’s
full force is directed at As You Sow because we are effective in moving companies to action.

Defending against these well-funded, orchestrated attacks is enormously expensive and yet, defend we must. The anti-ESG, pro-fossil fuel forces that have captured the House Judiciary Committee are seeking nothing less than a complete reversal of corporate progress on climate change and shareholders’ ability to hold corporations accountable.

Will you contribute? < [link removed] >

We are immensely proud our work has attracted this level of attention from the far right. There could be no stronger proof we are making a real difference.

We will continue to resist the far right’s anti-ESG, anti-shareholder crusade. We are standing up to the Committee’s failure to state a legitimate legislative purpose, to limit its document requests, and for our Constitutional rights. Since its initial demand eight months ago, we have responded in four separate letters, provided over 12,000 pages of documents, and sent our CEO and our President to D.C. for two full days of closed-door interviews. Even so, Republican Committee members – who hold the majority of the committee – don’t think that’s enough and have repeatedly threatened us with contempt of Congress.

Stand with us against this anti-ESG, pro-fossil fuel effort to derail corporate progress on climate change < [link removed] > .

This is about ALL of us. As Andrew Behar, As You Sow’s CEO, notes “The Committee’s relentless investigation is intended to intimidate investors from asking questions about risk, to interfere with the free market, and to limit companies’ right to take climate-related action that will help them retain a competitive edge in the global market. The effect of this partisan crusade is to put all Americans at risk from climate impacts and the resulting economic instability.”

The current $16 million/hour cost of climate change should send Congress running to address this crisis. Instead, the Republican majority of the Judiciary Committee is doubling down on preventing investors and companies from taking climate action.

We cannot allow that. Your donation today < [link removed] > funds the resistance.

The stakes could not be higher. The far right is protecting the fossil fuel industry while climate-induced superstorms and wildfires are wiping out homes and making insurance unaffordable. Extreme heat, floods, and droughts are reducing harvests of wheat, sugar, coffee, cacao, and cotton, leading to increased prices for all Americans. And this is just the beginning.

The Judiciary Committee is pursuing not just As You Sow, but essentially the entire global economy, including asset managers, proxy advisors, pension funds, other nonprofits, and a trade association with members including 675 of the largest banks in 50 countries, because of their climate-related actions. All told, these so-called “radical left anti-capitalists” represent over $105 trillion in assets under management, or the equivalent of global gross domestic product. Surely, that level of climate action suggests our work is indeed on the right track and in good company.

The Judiciary Committee is on the wrong side of history. That doesn’t change how hard we have to fight back – in fact, it demands that we fight back with everything we’ve got. As You Sow doesn’t have the deep pockets that banks and big asset managers do.

Your donation today is what will make the difference. < [link removed] >

With you by our side, we will keep standing up for climate action, and for the right to invest in a future we can believe in. We will keep holding corporations accountable.

Thank you! [Image alt text: Photo of Jenna Belisle] Sarah Milne

Senior Vice President of Advancement

Donate < [link removed] >

As You Sow < [link removed] > is the nation’s leading shareholder representative, with a 30+ year track record promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility and advancing values-aligned investing. Its issue areas include climate change, ocean plastics, toxins in the food system, biodiversity loss, racial injustice, lack of workplace diversity, and excessive executive compensation. See As You Sow’s shareholder resolution tracker < [link removed] > . < [link removed] > < [link removed] >
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