A recent report from the House Judiciary Committee details how America’s largest financial institutions colluded with climate activists to impose aggressive environmental policies on the U.S. economy and subvert our autonomy and free markets. [emphasis, links added]
It highlights a successful effort to insert climate activist directors on the board of energy giant ExxonMobil.
According to reports, There is “enormous evidence of a 'climate cartel' among financial institutions,” including 'Big Three' asset managers (BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard), Several large state pension funds, European investment firms, and two foreign proxy advisory firms that dominate the U.S. market.
The cartel coordinates its efforts through a network of “alliances” including “left-wing environmental activist” groups such as the Glasgow Net Zero Finance Alliance and the Net Zero Asset Management Initiative (NZAM). The Big Three belong to both.
The cartel made Exxon a “focal company” on the “climate blacklist,” subjecting Exxon to “a series of shareholder pressure campaigns — more than any other company in the world” — all of which To force ExxonMobil to reduce its fossil fuel production.
The support of the Big Three is “vital” to the success of this effort. Together they own 20.5% of ExxonMobil. The cartel believes this is enough to “change the outcome”. As it turns out, it is.
In 2021, the cartel used an emerging activist hedge fund called Engine No. 1 to nominate environmentalists to replace Exxon Mobil board members.
At first, people thought it was a joke. This is not the case. BlackRock voted for three nominees. State Street and Vanguard cast two-person votes. Three climate activists were elected to Exxon Mobil’s board of directors.
Then things got worse. As ridiculous as it sounds, in less than a year, ExxonMobil – America's largest and most profitable oil company – has adopted a net-zero carbon emissions policy by 2050.
As a result, America's preeminent oil companies now support significant reductions or even elimination of the products that justify them. Why would Exxon do this?
Well, it’s not that the people’s elected representatives voted to enact such self-destructive policies. Despite intense pressure from media and activists, there is no legislation requiring ExxonMobil to adopt a net-zero policy — because it’s a ridiculous thing for oil companies to do, and many Americans don’t support it.
There's no shortage of consumer demand for Exxon products, either. On the contrary, global oil demand is accelerating.
Pursuing climate commitments at the expense of its most profitable products is also not in the best economic interests of ExxonMobil’s actual shareholders (the Big Three’s investor customers).
This happens because the Big Three use the power they gain from investing other people's money to force compliance with radical political goals that override our autonomy and consumer-driven free market economy.
But what about the Big Three’s fiduciary duty to invest only in their customers’ best financial interests?
Even lawyers affiliated with the environmental activist group Climate Action 100+, of which BlackRock and State Street are members, think The “economic and social costs” of complying with the Paris Agreement are “so high” that they are inconsistent with the fiduciary duties asset managers owe to their clients.
On the plus side, the ExxonMobil vote exposed the cartel’s aggressive climate activism. Not surprisingly, people responded. State legislators passed fiduciary responsibility legislation.
The state of Tennessee filed a lawsuit against BlackRock after Republican attorneys general sent a letter to the Big Three accusing them of breach of fiduciary duty. Eleven states have filed antitrust lawsuits against the Big Three.
now we have As the Trump administration was about to take office, the House Judiciary Committee found “substantial evidence of collusion and anticompetitive conduct.”
Perhaps coincidentally, major U.S. financial firms have retreated from climate activist groups in recent weeks. Including BlackRock's recent exit from NZAM.
If you're wondering how important BlackRock is to this effort, within days NZAM suspended its operations.
Read “Rest” from The Federalist Papers
