10 Key Facts: Republican Attacks On Environmentally Responsible Investing Are Bad for Business, Working Families

Washington, D.C. — Republican presidential candidates are pushing an extreme Big Oil agenda to ban responsible investing and considering legitimate financial risks such as extreme weather or a company’s record of polluting. These attacks on so-called “woke” capitalism are really just extreme politicians forcing risky investments onto people while hurting American business growth, jobs, and our economy.

Here are 10 Key Facts on Why Republicans’ Big Oil-Backed Attacks On Sustainable Clean Energy Investment Are Bad for Business:

#1: Fossil fuel companies are “the major driver in the fight against sustainable finance.”

#2: Republican attacks “can be traced to Texas, where in 2020 oil executives began complaining that big banks like JPMorgan had stopped lending them money.”

#3: Environmentally responsible investments has been “a widely accepted trend in financial circles for nearly two decades.”

#4: Republican bans on sustainable clean energy investments will result in a loss of billions of dollars in returns for public pensions across the nation.

#5: State administration costs of the Republicans’ reckless and outrageous bans on sustainable clean energy investments will cost states millions of dollars per year.

#6: When Republicans launch these restrictions on American businesses, “a hidden tax [is] foisted on their residents amounting to hundreds of millions of additional dollars.”

#7: Sustainable finance “drives better financial performance.” 

#8: Despite Republican attacks, CEOs at Fortune 500 companies continue to support sustainable investments because it’s good for business. 

#9: A study of 11,000 mutual funds showed sustainable funds have comparable, if not better, financial returns to traditional funds with less downside risk.

#10: Nearly 80 percent of impact investors reported that their financial performance meets or exceeds their targets.