Audio recording reveals coordinated push against ESG investing

There is a new culture war. It’s not over history or schools, but over your retirement plan.

The label? "Woke” investing.

Much of this battle is about fossil fuels and whether investments should keep plowing into coal, oil and gas. Many money managers think climate change makes certain investments risky. For example, investing in real estate where sea levels are rising.

"We believe more than ever that climate change is an investment risk," Blackrock CEO Larry Fink told CNBC in 2020. "And we are seeing that through our clients. And how our clients are allocating capital."

Fink sees this as capitalism responding to a changing world, but to critics, these are bleeding-heart liberals who want to change the world. And conservative activists are pushing to ban this investment strategy.

The groups behind this are conservative stalwarts, such as The Heritage Foundation, American Legislative Exchange Council and The Heartland Institute. Some of them are linked to fossil fuel money and climate change denial. And most of their donors are not required to be disclosed.

But Here & Now has obtained audio of a recent strategy session from the investigative journalism organization Documented that provides clues to the campaign’s leaders and tactics.