Trump’s energy secretary pushed legal attack on green investing

Trump’s new energy secretary, former fracking company CEO Chris Wright, is part of a multi-pronged assault by the fossil fuel industry and its allies against socially conscious investing - known as ESG - which could impact 150 million people. An ESG investment fund is one that takes environmental and social risks into account in its decision-making, not necessarily one that invests for social purposes. But a string of lawsuits allege financial institutions with ESG policies are doing the opposite: putting political ideology over the financial gains of individuals. Therefore, the lawsuits argue, investors with ESG policies shouldn’t be allowed to manage retirement plans. With roughly $14 trillion held in private retirement funds alone, this legal attack on ESG investing has high stakes not only for individual retirees but also for the oil and gas industries.