June 3, 2022
Permission to republish original opeds and cartoons granted.
House Republicans introduce bill to ban ‘woke’ ESG investing in $762 billion federal employee retirement plan
By Robert Romano
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) has introduced legislation, the “No ESG at TSP Act” that would block the $762 billion federal employee retirement plan from making any investments in funds that utilize Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors to restrict capital flows to oil and gas development in the U.S., institute racial and gender hiring quotas in violation of federal civil rights law and overall have shifted the U.S. economy to a so-called “stakeholder capitalism” model whereby profits take a backseat to saving the world.
ESG investing has risen to dramatic heights via private retirement funds regulated under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) thanks to a regulation by the Obama Labor Department in 2015 allowing ESG investments into tax-exempt retirement savings accounts. A 2020 regulation by the Trump administration to water that down was promptly overturned by the Biden Administration.
In addition, the $762 billion federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) for federal employee retirees will begin investing in ESG funds in 2022, following state government employee retirement funds in California, New York, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland and Oregon.
U.S. Rep. Roy blasted the inclusion of ESG in the TSP funds, declaring on May 27, “ESG investing is a woke scam. It restricts the free flow of capital, undermines U.S. energy freedom to the benefit of our enemies, and advances woke racial and gender ideologies intent on dividing the republic. The upcoming changes to TSP would allow billions of taxpayer dollars to serve these ends. The federal government shouldn’t have any part in this radical nonsense, and especially shouldn’t be using your money to do it.”
That is where the real battle over ESG will be decided, one way or another, by Congress. For their part, U.S. corporations have already made up their mind, with a recent KPMG survey finding 82 percent of U.S. corporations are touting ESG sustainability goals in their corporate filings.
That even includes corporations like Fox Corporation, which owns Fox News, and NewsCorp, which owns the Wall Street Journal, all touting ESG goals in their corporate filings in order to attract woke investment dollars.
It gets worse, as the biggest oil companies in America similarly tout ESG goals and plan to be net zero by 2050, and in the meantime appear to be dutifully sitting on energy production, as if there were no shortages or inflation today at all. Why aren’t they drilling more?
It is all easily explained, of course. BlackRock placed green activists onto the board of Exxon in 2021 to make it a “not-oil” company, thanks to ESG. They don’t want to drill more. Blackrock and Vanguard get to vote pensioners’ shares when the annual meetings occur and so they wield vast influence on decisions like pursuing federal leases, or just squatting on them.
It is a simple matter of if you want more of something, subsidize it. Well, thanks the 2015 Obama Labor regulation that allowed for the tax-exempt retirement investments, and the new investments from the Thrift Savings Plan, Bloomberg estimates that ESG investing will total $53 trillion globally by 2025.
It's a leviathan. Of course, the danger is that in 2022, Republicans will win the election and mistakenly believe that means they have won back the culture merely by popular acclaim. But if all of the above remains true, that false comfort will become a noose by which the American dream is hung.
This was systematically put together and it must be systematically dismantled. Almost nobody is talking about what needs to be done.
Unfortunately, the 2020 Labor Department regulation that addressed this still allowed for ESG investment into tax-free retirement accounts, and in any event, however effective that approach might have been, was promptly overturned by Biden after the election. If this problem is left up to bureaucrats, even in a Republican administration, they might fail.
Only Congress can fix this, and that is why U.S. Rep. Roy’s leadership on this issue is so critical. But there is not much time to act. It could be now or never, wherein the GOP might not get a better shot than 2023 should they reclaim both the House and the Senate this year, or in the unlikely event Democrats lose in 2024, then again in 2025. However, considering the massive projected growth of ESG, waiting until 2025 or 2029 to anything on the federal level could mean Republicans already lost the war.
Especially since the U.S. may be about to be hit with another recession, woke hedge funds that are dependent on ESG could be very vulnerable, providing Republicans with a limited opportunity to act. A thousand knives should be stuck in the ESG leviathan before it gets back on its feet to finish what it started.
Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government.
To view online: https://dailytorch.com/2022/06/house-republicans-introduce-bill-to-ban-woke-esg-investing-in-762-billion-federal-employee-retirement-plan/
Cartoon: In the Dark
By A.F. Branco
Click here for a higher level resolution version.
To view online: https://dailytorch.com/2022/06/cartoon-in-the-dark/
U.S. Rep. Fred Keller: It's time to unleash oil and natural gas drilling in the U.S.
By U.S. Rep. Fred Keller
Every day, energy prices in America hit new record highs, leaving American families wondering when relief will come.
During a press conference last week, President Biden said that high gas prices were part of an "incredible transition" to become "less reliant on fossil fuels."
This "incredible transition" that the president referred to isn’t fooling anybody. This administration has made clear—in no uncertain terms—that instead of working seriously to alleviate Americans’ pain at the pump, the president will continue to suffocate the domestic oil and natural gas industry in hopes of replacing it with an unrealistic and far-left Green New Deal.
Americans are feeling the blowback from this administration’s shift away from clean, affordable, American energy. Economists are projecting that the national price for a gallon of gas will exceed $6 by August. Americans are on track to pay 78 percent more this year at the pump then they did a year ago. With Joe Biden in office, it’s no wonder inflation is out of control.
All hope is not lost. The solution to our troubles lies beneath our feet, and unleashing American oil and natural gas resources through domestic drilling is our only chance to curb inflation and rebuild America’s economic might.
That’s why over 20 of my Republican colleagues and I recently introduced legislation calling on the Biden administration to reverse course and increase domestic drilling for oil and natural gas.
The solution to our troubles lies beneath our feet, and unleashing American oil and natural gas resources through domestic drilling is our only chance to curb inflation and rebuild America’s economic might.
Here are five reasons why the Biden administration should support domestic drilling:
1. Consumer savings
While energy prices are influenced by a broad range of factors—both in and outside of our control— there’s no doubt that U.S. policy plays a key role in shaping the price that Americans see at the pump.
America is blessed with some of the most abundant natural resources in the world and has the capacity to expand its domestic supply of oil and natural gas to meet domestic demand and relieve price pressures. In Pennsylvania—America’s second largest natural gas producer—residents see $1,200 in annual energy savings as a result of the Commonwealth’s energy industry.
2. Reduced emissions
The United States is not only the top producer of oil and natural gas, but also a leader in cutting its carbon footprint, reducing emissions by 17 percent below its 2005 level—more than any other country. It’s also telling that the United States—who wasn’t part of the Paris Climate Accord in 2017—reduced its carbon emissions by 0.5 percent that year—more than all major emission-producing countries who did sign the agreement.
3. Good paying jobs and stronger communities
Domestic drilling is fueling job growth and creating unparalleled prosperity for American families. The United States’ oil and gas industry directly employs 2.6 million Americans and supports another 9.8 million jobs, accounting for 5.6 percent of the nation’s total employment.
As a member of the Congressional Western Caucus and House Energy Action Team, I have had the opportunity to tour drilling pads and natural gas wells in West Texas and Oklahoma, and host members of Congress in Northeast Pennsylvania—seeing firsthand the incredible partnerships domestic producers have with schools, hospitals, and local governments.
The Biden administration’s war on American energy will not move us closer to meeting our energy goals – on the contrary, it puts us at a competitive disadvantage to our adversaries.
In my home state of Pennsylvania, the impact tax on the natural gas industry has generated more than $2 billion in revenue, directly benefiting all 67 counties.
4. National security
Thirty-five percent of energy consumption in the U.S. comes from oil, making the Strategic Petroleum Reserve critical to our national security. Used in the past to offset major disruptions to the global energy supply—during events like Hurricane Katrina and Operation Desert Storm, the SPR is now at its lowest level in 35 years due the Biden administration unwisely using it as a stopgap to try and lower gas prices.
My colleagues on the Oversight and Reform Committee and I sent a letter requesting further information on the rationale behind this untenable approach. Ramping up domestic drilling and refilling the SPR will enable the United States to respond more effectively to future emergencies.
5. Global security
With increased domestic drilling bolstering American energy security, our adversaries no longer have the ability to leverage their energy resources or maliciously influence global markets. Instead of the Biden administration calling on Venezuela, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and other nations that don’t have our best interests in mind to produce more energy, we must instead put faith back in our domestic energy producers to meet our energy needs. Doing so creates a safer world for us and our allies.
The Biden administration’s war on American energy will not move us closer to meeting our energy goals – on the contrary, it puts us at a competitive disadvantage to our adversaries.
We are capable of innovating and bringing new technologies to the world of renewable energy while also addressing the demands of the day.
President Biden must recognize the reality that the world runs on oil and gas—changing where our baseload is sourced does nothing to diminish demand.
Domestic drilling is necessary for America to remain a dominant player in the global arena, and partisan agendas must not interfere with America’s ability to lead in the 21st century and beyond.
To view online: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/its-time-to-unleash-oil-and-natural-gas-drilling-in-the-us