Republican state AGs put crosshairs on Environmental Social Governance

MAGA Republicans like the free market, until the free market does things like, oh, I dunno, prioritize diversity, or the environment.

When the free market makes it harder for unqualified White guys to get jobs, or makes it harder for the people with fossil-fuel money to write them big checks, the MAGAs approach the free market like a Marxist-Leninist.

“Virginians expect an honest return for their hard work, especially retirees and senior citizens looking forward to retirement. Sound economics should triumph over social fads every time. Retirement and investment accounts must look out for the interests of investors, rather than advancing risky social schemes,” our MAGA AG here in Virginia, Jason Miayres, said in a statement put out by his office on Thursday to announce the conclusion of an investigation into Wells Fargo.

The sin of Wells Fargo: Environmental Social Governance.

A coalition of MAGA state AGs has been investigating Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley for possible violations of antitrust and consumer protection laws by implementing ESG-inspired net-zero emissions policies.

I wish I was making this up.

The group claims that the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, which required member banks to align their portfolios to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and set specific targets for “carbon-intensive sectors” by 2030, compromised their fiduciary obligations to customers and investors and simultaneously usurped the policy-making authority of America’s elected representatives.

Haven’t heard about this group of MAGA state AGs launching an investigation into the unelected Elon Musk, but that’s apparently another story for another day.

Anyway, the browbeating worked with Wells Fargo, which announced that it was ending its membership in the Net-Zero Banking Alliance.

Don’t think the MAGA Gestapo is going to let up on this save the environment crap, though.

According to the taxpayer-funded press release from Miyares’ office, “only Wells Fargo has publicly ended the ESG goals mandated by the Net-Zero Banking Alliance. The coalition’s investigation into the other five banks will continue.”