Jim Jordan Launches Probe Into Financial Giants’ ‘Radical’ Plans To ‘Decarbonize’ Economy by Phasing Out Fossil Fuels, ‘Harming’ Americans’ Freedom, Well-Being

The House Judiciary Committee will soon begin an investigation into some of the nation’s largest financial institutions for so-called collusive agreements that seek to “decarbonize” the world economy. This comes as the panel prepares for a flurry of summer activity that includes testimony from top Department of Justice officials, anti-censorship activists, and those charged with enforcing immigration law. The chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Congressman Jim Jordan, sent a letter on Thursday to the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, which according to the group’s website is “a global coalition of leading financial institutions committed to accelerating the decarbonization of the economy.” The letter was first reported by the Daily Caller. Mr. Jordan sent the missive to Mayor Bloomberg, who serves as the Glasgow Alliance’s co-chairman, as well as the group’s vice chairwoman, Mary Schapiro, who once served as the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. “The Committee on the Judiciary is conducting oversight of the adequacy and enforcement of U.S. antitrust laws,” the letter states. “We write because the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero and the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative are potentially violating U.S. antitrust law by coordinating their members’ agreements to ‘decarbonize’ their assets under management and reduce emissions to net zero.” Mr. Jordan also claims that the organization’s alleged collusion with asset managers will have “potentially harmful effects on Americans’ freedom and economic well-being.”Beyond the Glasgow Alliance, the letter was sent to three of the nation’s largest asset managers — BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street. Combined, those three firms hold more than $20 trillion in assets under management. When reached by The New York Sun for comment, a spokesman for BlackRock, Chris Van Es, said his firm will cooperate with the Judiciary Committee. “BlackRock’s sole focus as a fiduciary is seeking the best financial outcomes for our clients, consistent with their investment objectives,” Mr. Van Es said in a message. “We look forward to engaging with the Committee on how we do that.”The Glasgow Alliance, Vanguard, and State Street did not immediately respond to requests for comment.The letter was also signed by the chairman of the subcommittee that handles antitrust issues, Congressman Thomas Massie, as well as a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, Congressman Dan Bishop. The letter further describes what the congressmen call “radical” aspirations to decarbonize the economy, including eliminating more than 90 percent of coal and oil production, as well as halting the sale of internal combustion passenger cars by 2035. The crux of the committee inquiry is whether the Glasgow Alliance and its members are violating American antitrust law by “limiting production” of certain commodities to coercively change consumer behavior. The organization was founded in 2021 in order to facilitate “the net-zero transition,” its website states.The document sent by the Judiciary Committee chairman and his colleagues is not a legally binding subpoena, though the full panel could consider such a move in the coming months. The letter asks that the Glasgow Alliance transfer to the committee all documents and communications related to the formation of the organization, the development of its climate goals, the commitments made by asset managers in joining the group, and how the group plans to track net-zero goals, among other things. Mr. Jordan, in his letter, asks that such documents be presented to the Judiciary Committee on or before July 20. He further states that the Glasgow Alliance “should construe this preservation notice as an instruction to take all reasonable steps to prevent the destruction or alteration, whether intentionally or negligently, of all documents, communications, and other information” related to the topics addressed in his letter. Investment practices that take into consideration factors such as companies’ environmental impact are known as environmental, social, and corporate governance strategies, or ESG. The use of such environmental and social considerations in deciding which companies to invest in has come to the attention of conservatives in recent years, many of whom label ESG as “woke finance.”Earlier this year, the Republican-led House and the Democrat-controlled Senate passed a resolution that would have struck down a Department of Labor rule that encouraged asset managers to consider ESG when making investment decisions. The episode culminated in President Biden issuing the first veto of his presidency. Mr. Jordan, who is also the head of the select subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government, which falls under the Judiciary Committee, has already planned a busy summer that will put him in the spotlight on a host of issues ranging from investigations into Hunter Biden to so-called Big Tech censorship to immigration.

Jim Jordan Launches Probe Into Financial Giants’ ‘Radical’ Plans To ‘Decarbonize’ Economy by Phasing Out Fossil Fuels, ‘Harming’ Americans’ Freedom, Well-Being

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