A coalition of 13 Republican attorneys general filed a “motion to intervene” on Monday, asking a federal energy regulator to block The Vanguard Group from buying shares of publicly listed utility firms due to its decarbonization goals. In February, Pennsylvania-based Vanguard asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to extend the blanket authorization granted in…

New election rules imposed by U.S. regulators have many firms worried about shareholder activists becoming members of company boards. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently finalized revisions to corporate director election rules by mandating that companies must provide shareholders voting through proxy a “universal ballot.” According to outgoing rules, shareholders voting via proxy (like…

The Biden administration needs to reduce regulations and assist oil and gas companies in order to bring down inflationary price pressures on the U.S. economy, said former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers during a recent interview with CNN. When asked what the administration could do about the recession that many fear could hit the economy next…

Commentary Note: This is the third of a three part series on ESG—environmental, social, and governance—investing.  Two previous columns addressed the environmental and social elements of ESG investing. Here, we discusses the last element, corporate governance. In this third discussion of ESG investing, we see how governance—as with “social”—arises not from what it was intended…

Diesel prices are under $5 for the first time in six months, but will it last? Nearly 20 states are pushing back against the world’s largest asset manager, saying it’s politicizing investments, and even endangering national security. Apple is warning users to update devices after finding vulnerabilities that could be exploited. McDonald’s tests out a…

The push toward environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards in the private sector is the “single greatest threat” to both democracy and capitalism in the United States, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy said. Agendas that the government cannot directly achieve via the Constitution are being pushed through the ESG movement in the private sector, he said. The…

Investing in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) companies is currently at the forefront of business news. Many brokerage firms are offering products with the ESG criteria. In addition, mutual funds and robo-advisors are also offering ESG products. Some companies are claiming to use ESG practices. However, defining precisely the criteria rating is often ambiguous. What is…

Republican states are fighting efforts by certain banks to push environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards that promote, among other progressive agenda, anti-fossil fuel policies. Over the past year, at least 15 Republican-led states have proposed policies or laws that would punish banks for taking an anti-fossil fuel stance. State financial officers from Texas, Arkansas, Utah,…

Commentary The new global environmental, social and governance (ESG) accounting standard that is about to be implemented in Canada may well prove fatal to all but the biggest of businesses. According to Dr. Tammy Nemeth, the new carbon emission standards and policies are designed to strangle the hydrocarbon industry by “disqualifying it from financing, insurance…

Advocates for taxpayers and affordable energy blame the various levels of government in Canada for high gas prices and resultant high inflation, saying that tax relief and promotion of pipelines and the energy sector would alleviate the problem. In recent days, gas prices reached record highs in most regions of Canada, surpassing $2 per litre….