{"id":2391992,"date":"2025-01-18T05:14:02","date_gmt":"2025-01-18T10:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-blackrock-helped-stack-exxons-board-with-climate-radicals\/"},"modified":"2025-01-18T05:22:35","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T10:22:35","slug":"how-blackrock-helped-stack-exxons-board-with-climate-radicals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-blackrock-helped-stack-exxons-board-with-climate-radicals\/","title":{"rendered":"How BlackRock Helped Stack Exxon&#8217;s Board With Climate Radicals"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-blackrock-helped-stack-exxons-board-with-climate-radicals%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2391992&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A recent report from the House Judiciary Committee \u200basserts that major U.S. financial institutions have joined forces with climate activists to impose extreme environmental policies \u200bon the American economy, undermining self-governance and free markets. Key \u200cpoints in the report include the identification of a \u200b&#8221;climate cartel&#8221; of\u200b financial players\u2014including the\u200d &#8220;Big Three&#8221; asset managers\u2063 (BlackRock, State Street, and \u2064Vanguard)\u2014that pressured ExxonMobil to appoint \u2062climate activists to its board. This coalition, \u2064which also\u2064 includes various pension\u2063 funds and European firms, organized thru environmental alliances, exerted significant shareholder pressure on Exxon by placing it on a &#8220;climate blacklist.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In a notable development, an activist hedge fund named Engine No. 1 \u200dwas utilized to\u2062 nominate climate-oriented board members, leading to the\u2062 election \u200cof three activists with the support of \u2063the\u2062 Big Three, who\u2064 owned over 20% of Exxon\u2019s\u2064 shares. As an inevitable result, Exxon adopted a policy to achieve net zero carbon emissions by \u200d2050, even\u200d though such a shift contradicts its oil-centric business model and lacks legislative mandate or\u2064 consumer demand.<\/p>\n<p>The report raises concerns about the fiduciary duties of the\u2064 Big Three, suggesting that their actions \u200cprioritize political goals over the financial interests \u2063of their clients. It highlights the\u2063 tension between investor activism and conventional market\u200c principles, as the push for radical climate commitments \u2062emerges as \u2064a significant factor\u2062 in corporate governance. The\u2063 Exxon case has sparked public \u2062attention\u2062 and backlash against such practices, casting a light \u2064on the \u2062growing influence of environmental activism in the financial sector.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A recent House Judiciary Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/2024-12\/2024-12-13-Sustainability-Shakedown-Report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report<\/a> details how America&rsquo;s largest financial institutions, colluding with climate activists, imposed radical environmental policies on the American economy, subverting both our self-government and free markets. It focuses on the successful effort to insert climate activist directors on the board of energy giant ExxonMobil.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>According to the report, there is &ldquo;substantial evidence of a &lsquo;climate cartel&rsquo; of financial institutions&rdquo; including the &ldquo;Big Three&rdquo; asset managers (BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard), several massive state pension funds, European investment firms, and the two foreign-owned proxy advisory firms that dominate the American market.<\/p>\n<p>This cartel coordinated its efforts through a network of &ldquo;alliances&rdquo; that included &ldquo;left-wing environmental activist&rdquo; groups such as the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero and The Net Zero Asset Managers initiative (NZAM). The Big Three belonged to both.<\/p>\n<p>The cartel made Exxon a &ldquo;focus company&rdquo; on its &ldquo;climate blacklist,&rdquo; subjecting Exxon to &ldquo;a barrage of shareholder pressure campaigns &mdash; more than any other company in the world&rdquo; &mdash; all designed to force Exxon to reduce its fossil fuel production.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Big Three&rsquo;s support was &ldquo;crucial&rdquo; to the success of this effort. Combined, they owned 20.5 percent of Exxon&rsquo;s shares. The cartel believed that was enough &ldquo;clout to change outcomes.&rdquo; As it turned out, it was.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In 2021, the cartel used a fledgling activist hedge fund called Engine No. 1 to nominate environmentalists to replace Exxon board members. At first, people thought it was a joke. It wasn&rsquo;t. BlackRock voted for three of the nominees. State Street and Vanguard voted for two. All three climate activists were elected to Exxon&rsquo;s board.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Then it got worse. As absurd as it sounds, within less than a year, Exxon &mdash; our nation&rsquo;s largest and most profitable oil company &mdash; adopted a policy of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. So America&rsquo;s preeminent oil company now supports severely reducing if not eliminating the very product that justifies its existence. Why would Exxon do that?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Well, not because the people&rsquo;s elected representatives voted to enact such a self-destructive policy. Despite extreme media and activist pressure, there is no legislation requiring Exxon to adopt a net zero policy &mdash; because it&rsquo;s a ridiculous thing for an oil company to do, and many Americans do not support it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Nor was there a lack of consumer demand for Exxon&rsquo;s products. On the contrary, the demand for oil is accelerating worldwide.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Nor was it in the best financial interests of Exxon&rsquo;s actual shareholders (the Big Three&rsquo;s investor clients) for Exxon to pursue climate commitments at the expense of its most profitable products.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It happened because the Big Three used the power they derive from investing other people&rsquo;s money to force compliance with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/beshear-equates-loving-your-neighbor-with-supporting-abortion\/\" title=\"Beshear Equates \u2018Loving Your Neighbor\u2019 With Supporting Abortion\">radical political goal<\/a>, overriding both our self-government and our consumer-driven free market economy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But what about the Big Three&rsquo;s fiduciary duty to invest solely in their clients&rsquo; best financial interests? Even lawyers affiliated with the environmental activist group Climate Action 100+ &mdash; of which both BlackRock and State Street were members &mdash; thought that &ldquo;the economic and social costs&rdquo; of Paris Agreement compliance &ldquo;are so high&rdquo; that they do not align with the fiduciary duty that asset managers owe their clients.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>On the upside, the Exxon vote brought the cartel&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/internal-memo-shows-biden-admin-wanted-to-ban-gas-stoves-before-public-backlash\/\" title=\"Internal Memo Shows Biden Admin Wanted To Ban Gas Stoves Before Public Backlash\">radical climate activism<\/a> out in the open. Not surprisingly, people reacted. State legislators passed fiduciary duty <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/red-states-have-slowed-the-esg-juggernaut-environmental-social-governance-shareholders-investing-7308cb8d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">legislation<\/a>. Republican AGs sent letters to the Big Three, <a href=\"https:\/\/foleyhoag.com\/news-and-insights\/blogs\/white-collar-law-and-investigations\/2024\/april\/tennessee-v-blackrock-how-this-case-informs-how-we-look-back-and-look-ahead-at-esg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">alleging<\/a> that they had violated their fiduciary duties, and Tenessee filed a lawsuit against BlackRock. Eleven states <a href=\"https:\/\/news.ballotpedia.org\/2024\/12\/03\/11-states-sue-blackrock-vanguard-and-state-street-over-antitrust-laws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">filed<\/a> an antitrust case against the Big Three. And now we have the House Judiciary Committee finding of &ldquo;substantial evidence of collusion and anticompetitive behavior&rdquo; with the Trump administration about to take office.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps coincidentally, in recent weeks there has been an exodus by major U.S. financial companies from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jim-jordan-targets-climate-activist-groups-in-antitrust-probe\/\" title=\"Jim Jordan investigates climate activist groups for antitrust violations.\">climate activist groups<\/a>, including BlackRock&rsquo;s recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/money\/markets\/blackrock-withdraws-from-climate-coalition-backpedaling-again-on-esg\/ar-BB1rbATj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">withdrawal<\/a> from NZAM. If you&rsquo;re wondering how important BlackRock was to this effort, within days, NZAM <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/sustainability\/sustainable-finance-reporting\/investor-climate-group-suspends-activities-after-blackrock-exit-2025-01-13\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">suspended<\/a> its operations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>BlackRock now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.responsible-investor.com\/esg-round-up-blackrock-quits-net-zero-asset-managers-initiative\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claims<\/a> its NZAM membership &ldquo;caused confusion regarding BlackRock&rsquo;s practices and subjected [it] to legal inquiries from various public officials&rdquo; but didn&rsquo;t really <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/politics\/conservatives-notch-another-win-after-blackrock-kills-net-zero-membership-climate-commitment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">affect<\/a> how it &ldquo;manage[d] [clients&rsquo;]  portfolios.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>That&rsquo;s hard to believe, but the good news is that if it&rsquo;s true, BlackRock will have plenty of opportunity to prove it &mdash; in the lawsuits it&rsquo;s up against, in future congressional investigations, and before the Trump administration officials tasked with enforcing antitrust laws and the fiduciary obligations imposed by ERISA.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Will there be a meaningful change in the Big Three&rsquo;s environmental activism? They each <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">issue updated proxy voting guidance<\/a> in the spring. BlackRock&rsquo;s is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackrock.com\/corporate\/literature\/fact-sheet\/blk-responsible-investment-guidelines-us.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">already out<\/a>. This year&rsquo;s guidance will be worth a close read.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Andy Puzder was chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants and is currently a distinguished fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a senior fellow at both the America First Policy Institute and the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy. His new book, &#8220;A Tyranny for the Good of its Victims &ndash; The Ugly Truth About Stakeholder Capitalism,&#8221; came out on Jan. 14 and is available on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Tyranny-Good-Its-Victims-Stakeholder\/dp\/1641774150\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=28BA2ECMMG0DE&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.zIuOHWx-MWuU7MEowT37UjfhOzoJp3vxFlY3R4L98drGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.jvdhSoyIk9SJJllavGAqxpu6BU45_nc91dZ4iE3sOz4&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=a+tyranny+for+the+good+of+its+victims&amp;qid=1737120800&amp;sprefix=A+Tyranny+,aps,114&amp;sr=8-1\">Amazon<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A House report reveals collusion between major financial firms and climate activists to impose radical policies on the economy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1080,"featured_media":2391993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/54083566563_2c1be7c5f6_k.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[7002,13784,25368],"class_list":["post-2391992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-blackrock","tag-climate-change","tag-exxon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/54083566563_2c1be7c5f6_k.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1080"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2391992"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2391996,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391992\/revisions\/2391996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2391993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2391992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2391992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2391992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}