Author: James McAllister

  • Trump issues executive order opposing state ESG policies

    Posted on

    Photo of the White House in Washington, D.C.

    President Donald Trump (R) issued an executive order last week directing U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate and block enforcement of state laws promoting ESG policies. Trump argued such laws conflict with national security and economic interests. The order lays the groundwork for federal legal challenges against state ESG laws. It reverses the dynamic…

  • SEC ends defense of climate reporting rules

    Posted on

    The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced last week that it voted to end its defense of the Biden-era corporate emissions reporting rules. The decision indicates the majority of current SEC commissioners do not support the implementation of the rules. Acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda said the commission wanted to end its “defense of the…

  • Hagerty introduces bill prohibiting foreign ESG rule enforcement

    Posted on

    Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, introduced a bill—the PROTECT USA Act—that he says will protect American companies from the European Union’s (EU) ESG reporting requirements. Republicans and American business organizations have argued the EU’s ESG regulations would hurt and force compliance on U.S. companies. Hagerty’s bill would prohibit foreign…

  • State Street removes diversity goals

    Posted on

    State Street removed corporate board diversity requirements from its 2025 proxy voting guidelines in a Feb. 28 update. Proxy voting refers to the process through which shareholders who do not physically attend corporate shareholder meetings vote on company issues such as executive pay packages, board membership, and other shareholder and management proposals. Typically, proxy voting…

  • Democratic state financial officers support ESG in letter to regulators

    Posted on

    Seventeen Democratic state financial officers sent a letter to the acting heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Labor (DOL), asking them to not restrict the use of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in financial decisions. The letter responds to one sent last month by Republican state financial officers…

  • Oklahoma launches effort to oppose corporate DEI

    Posted on

    Oklahoma Treasurer Todd Russ (R) announced plans to oppose corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs through shareholder proposals using its $2 billion Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust. DEI is typically associated with the social component of ESG. Treasurer Russ has argued corporations should be politically neutral and avoid using corporate money for DEI and ESG…