13 state AGs win victory against ESG with Vanguard settlement

By Tate Miller
The Center Square

Marking a victory in the fight against Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), over a dozen state attorneys general secured a settlement Thursday with asset manager Vanguard – the company agreeing it will end its ESG efforts and turn over ESG-related documents.

Chief executive officer of American Energy Institute Jason Isaac told The Center Square that the settlement “is a huge win in the fight to stop the ESG and net-zero schemes being pushed by Wall Street elites and the climate cartel.”

“These ESG and net-zero policies were never about protecting the environment; they’re about controlling markets and choking off affordable energy that Americans depend on,” Isaac said.

As a part of the settlement, Vanguard will “pay $30 million in fines, turn over all documents related to their coordinated ESG activism, and end all ESG activism for years to come,” Executive director of Consumers’ Research Will Hild said on X.

Hild told The Center Square that “the reckoning is here.”

The settlement “is a massive blow to the ESG asset manager cartel that sets the stage that more is to come,” Hild said.

“We have been sounding the alarm that asset managers BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard have been colluding and deceiving investors by pushing scams like ESG investing onto consumers,” Hild said.

“Now, the Attorneys General are getting overdue accountability and a massive course correction from Vanguard,” Hild said.

Similarly, Jason Isaac told The Center Square: “For years, asset managers BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard have used their influence to penalize fossil fuel producers, strangle investment in reliable energy, and reward companies that play along with their political agenda.”

“That’s collusion, not capitalism,” Isaac stated.

“The weaponization of finance to achieve ideological outcomes must end, and it’s encouraging to see states standing up for energy freedom and economic growth,” Isaac said. “The era of ESG coercion is ending, and free-market principles are winning again.”

The settlement with Vanguard has connections to a lawsuit 13 state attorneys general filed against asset managers BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard in an effort to lower electricity prices, according to a press release from Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird.

Attorneys general from Texas, Iowa, Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Wyoming intended to combat “a BlackRock-led cartel that drove up the price of electricity under the guise of ‘green energy’ investing,” with the lawsuit, the release said.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird told The Center Square “Iowans should not have to pay higher prices for energy because of a woke Wall Street agenda.”

“I’m grateful that Vanguard has chosen to set higher standards for the industry and has agreed to resolve this case,” Bird said.

“We’ll set our sights on BlackRock and State Street now and continue to fight for truly competitive markets to help Iowans and all Americans,” Bird said.

Similarly, Hild told The Center Square that “BlackRock CEO Larry Fink should be extremely worried about what could be uncovered next.”

When reached, Vanguard told The Center Square: “We remain dedicated to our core mission of standing up for investors and giving them the best chance for investment success.”

“Our agreement to resolve this matter recognizes our innovative Investor Choice program as a tool for empowering investors and bringing new voices into the proxy voting ecosystem,” Vanguard said.

Chief executive officer of State Financial Officers Foundation OJ Oleka told The Center Square: “This news is about justice, and should serve as a warning to any firm that conspires to sacrifice the savings, livelihoods, and retirements of hardworking Americans at the altar of a selfish woke trend.”

“As staunch defenders of fiduciary duty against faddish ideological movements that corrupt investments and impoverish Americans, we’re thrilled to see ESG suffer this latest blow,” Oleka said.

“This is not an abstract issue,” Oleka said. “Vanguard not only put radical climate politics before its duty to maximize financial returns – it caused real families to face real hardship with higher energy bills and diminished financial security.”