Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in a latest book calls for politicians to suppress the influence of “woke capital” and activist corporations, partially by “crippling” the socially conscious investing movement often called ESG.
“Each the legislative and executive branches should use their respective authorities to defend individuals against large corporations which are wielding what’s effectively public power,” DeSantis wrote in “The Courage to Be Free,” which published Tuesday.
“Reining in Big Tech, enforcing antitrust laws, prohibiting discriminatory job training, and crippling the ESG movement are all ways through which the political branches can protect individual freedom from stridently ideological private actor,” he wrote.
The ESG concept — which is commonly vague but broadly refers to investing strategies that prioritize environmental, social and governance aspects — has increasingly turn into a goal for conservatives aiming to combat powerful actors within the private sector promoting progressive policies.
DeSantis’ book tears into ESG in multiple chapters, while invoking the politically loaded and nebulous term “woke” nearly 4 dozen times. DeSantis’ give attention to ESG suggests the multitrillion-dollar issue could feature prominently within the Republican presidential primary if the governor launches a 2024 White House bid as he’s widely expected to do.
After easily winning a second gubernatorial term last 12 months, DeSantis has divulged little about his much-rumored presidential ambitions. But polls nevertheless show him rivaling former President Donald Trump as a top contender for the GOP nomination.
Trump, probably the most distinguished of the small handful of Republicans who’ve thus far announced presidential bids, last week posted a video torching ESG as “radical-left garbage,” vowing to crack down on it if he was elected again.
Within the book’s introduction, DeSantis describes the investing trend as “an try to impose ruling class ideology on society through publicly traded firms and asset management.”
DeSantis asserts that ESG marks the culmination of efforts by “the ruling class,” which has been co-opted by “woke” ideological interests, to “achieve through the economy what it could never achieve through the ballot box.”
He later offers examples, arguing that ESG “provides a pretext for CEOs to make use of shareholder assets to focus on issues like reducing the usage of fossil fuels and restricting Second Amendment rights.”
ESG is a method through which “woke capital exerts a pernicious influence on society,” DeSantis argued within the book.
He goes on to criticize corporations that wield their power to precise views “on issues that do circuitously affect their businesses.” He acknowledged they’ve the fitting to accomplish that, but countered “it is just not healthy when a market-based economy becomes an extension of political factionalism.”
He also wrote that employees “have a right to be free” from the imposition of “woke ideology as a condition of employment.” DeSantis asserted that “the liberty to talk doesn’t include the fitting to indoctrinate,” even after acknowledging that companies are allowed to advocate for any “fad” they select.
But “when ESG activism forces changes to a nation’s energy posture, it represents the imposition of a policy through extraconstitutional means,” he argued.
Within the book, DeSantis called for states to form an anti-ESG voting bloc, writing that “simply allowing woke capital and Big Tech to run amok with none accountability is an approach that is insufficient to the duty at hand.”
DeSantis, who as Florida governor has waded into thorny culture-war fights and wielded the facility of his office against his perceived foes on the political left, has previously weighed in on ESG. Last August, as an example, he passed a resolution barring Florida’s state pension fund managers from considering ESG of their investment practices.
DeSantis’ book also details his fights with entertainment giant Disney, whose Disney World park in Orlando has long provided a very important revenue stream for the state.
DeSantis wrote that he advised Disney’s then-CEO Bob Chapek to remain out of heated dispute over laws that critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Disney ultimately got here out against the bill and vowed to assist get it repealed.
On Monday, DeSantis signed a bill giving the state latest power over the world that has long granted Disney special self-governance abilities.
Whether DeSantis makes ESG a campaign priority or not, the problem will proceed to attract controversy on Capitol Hill. President Joe Biden last 12 months loosened a Trump-era rule that made it tougher to make use of ESG funds in 401(k) plans, and on Monday his administration got here out against a GOP-penned House resolution criticizing that call.
Mike Pence, Trump’s former vice chairman who might also be amongst the sector in search of the GOP nomination, vowed earlier Tuesday to “put a stop to ESG once and for all!”
