WASHINGTON, D.C. : President Biden vetoed a bill today that would deny retirement plan fiduciaries the discretion to consider climate change and other environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors when making investment decisions and exercising shareholder rights. The bill would have blocked the Department of Labor from enforcing a rule ensuring that investment advisors retain such discretion. Following is a statement from Gregory Wetstone, President and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE):
“This bill was a direct attack on the free market and the ability of investment advisors to make decisions based on the best interests of their clients. It is disappointing that a proposal that would politicize retirement investments made it as far as the President’s desk, and we commend President Biden for using his veto authority today to overturn this misguided policy.
“The Labor Department rule at issue here reflects the reality that ESG considerations are financially material. We should trust the seasoned judgment of investment professionals to make their own financial decisions without government interference or politicization, and not hamstring ESG investing, one of the nation’s most important and fastest-growing investment trends.”
About ACORE:
For more than 20 years, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) has been the nation’s premier pan-renewable nonprofit organization. ACORE unites finance, policy and technology to accelerate the transition to a renewable energy economy.
