Utah State Treasurer Marlo Oaks told Fox News host Tucker Carlson Tuesday evening that “sustainable investing” on Wall Street helped contribute to higher gas prices and inflation.
“Today’s inflation really starts with ESG,” Oaks told Carlson in a “Tucker Carlson Today” interview. “Because if you think about why gasoline prices are so high, a lot of it is a supply issue and the reason we don’t have enough supply in this country, one reason why is we don’t have enough capital going into oil and gas projects.” (RELATED: DANIEL: The Right’s Solution To Wall Street’s Woke Capital Is Dreadful)
ESG refers to Environmental, Social, and (Corporate) Governance, according to the Corporate Finance Institute. The ESG framework pushes companies to prioritize social and environmental factors into their investment considerations instead of “simply considering the potential profitability.”
One investment firm reportedly pushing ESG is BlackRock, which holds over $10 trillion in assets. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new regulations in March requiring publicly-traded companies to disclose carbon emissions and plans to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
“The only explanation that makes sense is ESG,” Oaks said. “People have decided that they do not want to participate in the fossil fuel industry and so are cutting off capital. There is an active drive that we have heard from this administration, to cut off capital to the fossil fuel industry. It’s very troubling.”
WATCH:
Tesla CEO Elon Musk called ESG a “scam” after the electric car company was removed from the S&P 500 ESG Index in May.
Oaks noted that investment in oil and gas production dropped 90% from 2015 to 2021. The price of gas is more than $5 a gallon according to AAA data.
Oaks, Musk and BlackRock did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Daily Caller News Foundation.
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