Examining ESG

For one year we have been writing to a Canadian mutual fund company executive, exchanging ideas. We hope the exec has been finding a little time to compare how the scientific and economic literature contrast sharply with the most common issue associated with ESG: the idea of a dangerous, man-made, carbon-dioxide induced global warming. Last year in the fund company's corporate ESG report almost all the shareholder proposals and engagements the company was involved with related to carbon dioxide and its consequences - astonishing considering it is the gas of life on Earth...  Our contention from the start has been that it appears no one at the company has done a proper, full-context due diligence on the facts underlying the ideas of dangerous man-made climate change, net zero, energy transition, sustainability, and similar terms. Thus, the company has, in marketing materials, product launches, and internal policies, adopted provably false ideas that in the long run can only harm the...

  A whole lot of science this week: Temperature and CO2: cause and effect The IPCC’s new hockey stick Holocene temperature variations Iceland’s ice not melting Greenland near lowest temp of last 10,000 years The end of el-Nino brings cold for the coming years No trend in Rainfall   Also a bunch of Investment/Economic articles: The regulatory climate disclosure fraud Flawed ESG statistics Canadian fund disclosures required, but complete lack of due diligence by regulators ESG series in Invesmtent Executive, again no due diligence Exxon on the offensive Banks shoot themselves in the foot by adopting ESG Nearly useless battery energy storage Diversity hiring is racist   And then Absurdities: Chopping down 120,000 to place industrial wind turbines to save the environment A true ban on fossil fuels would quickly force a reality check. Will any...

Imagine you are a leader for a company that manages investments or insurance products, and you have spent a bunch of money adding ESG/sustainable/responsible and the like capabilities to your stable of money managers. You also added ESG overlays to all your other management teams, paid consultants to design and implement all this and put ESG prominently in your marketing. Then, the investing public, financial advisors, and regulators started to recognize the deep errors and biases in the whole ESG movement, and found that much of the terminology you used, the claims you made, the marketing materials you created and the products you offered were firmly based on false scientific claims, false economic benefits, false social values and in fact were terribly harmful to humanity. Might some reputational, regulatory, and even legal damages follow? This blog is an effort to persuade Canadian and international investment managers to tread much more carefully before adopting ESG and similar ide...

Two political documents were just published at essentially the same time, but with opposite intentions. One is all about liberating the human mind in pursuit of life-promoting energy. The other is about using government force to stop citizens, energy producers, and energy sellers from speaking freely the truth about fossil fuels. First, the good stuff. Not being American but Canadian, and being in favour of any politician or political party that has pro-reason, pro-human, pro-rights policies, it is wonderful to see the Republican National Committee come out with an energy policy resolution that is likely the best one ever crafted. You can download it using this link , but the full text is below. How inspiring to see such a statement published in a world that has such irrational ideas about energy and prosperity!  RESOLUTION SUPPORTING A TRANSFORMATIVE ENERGY FREEDOM POLICY FOR AMERICA WHEREAS, Affordable, reliable energy is essential to American and human prosperity because it giv...

The 28th Conference of the Parties is taking place right now, with an incredible 70,000 attendees feeling it necessary to jet across the globe to Dubai to stay in fine hotels, eat expensive food and spend government or employer money. The conference thus perfectly symbolizes the entire modern climate movement: wealthy out-of-touch busybodies wandering about in a miraculous world made possible by affordable fossil energy feasting on fine food and wine while they discuss how everyone else should be forced to do without. And then wondering why no one is listening. In-person, not via webinar. There is a great deal to be cynical about regarding net-zero, climate alarmism, and the massive associated consumption of capital. Here is a collection of COP-related commentary for your perusal. COP28 should be the last COP  COPs are immoral because they deprive billions of the energy they need to prosper. They should be replaced by energy freedom conferences. Every report you hear about fos...

I’d like you to challenge me and the statements I’ve made. I said at the start of our continuing conversation that I am open to any questions, any challenges to my statements, and I’m willing to discuss any arguments. Mutual fund companies are such an important part of my business and thus my life, and I am trying to save the companies and myself from embarrassment, reputational and regulatory damage, and even financial losses through my conversation with you. Thank you for being open to these topics and patient with my weekly stream of information. I hope you are now seeing that there is a tremendous body of work based on fundamental principles of science, economics, investment, and morality behind my efforts. This week, as a lead-up to our meeting, I’ve focused on the very big picture in the Science category. As you know, my comments have largely emphasized the E portion of ESG, which comprises the vast majority of ESG, and towering over the dominant E factor is the hypothesis that h...