Exclusive—Louisiana Treasurer John Schroder: Republican Treasurers Have ‘Taken a Strong Stance’ Towards Corporate America, ESG Policies

WASHINGTON, District of Columbia — Louisiana state Treasurer John Schroder, who is the national chair of the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF), told Breitbart News that Republican state treasurers have “taken a strong stance” towards corporate America and the leftist environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policy movement.

Schroder spoke to Breitbart News in an exclusive interview during SFOF’s conference last month, where state treasurers from across the country launched their strategy against ESG policies and ultimately took the fight to corporate America for pushing these types of policies.

The Louisiana state treasurer — who’s been accused of participating in a culture war when going against ESG policies — said during the conference that he did not pick the fight with the companies but that he’s “not gonna let any company through its corporate boardrooms and some of these World Banks, as I like to call them, put Louisiana out of business, or Kentucky,or West Virginia.”

The SFOF chair explained to Breitbart News that the leftist environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policy movement is still a new idea, unlike critical race theory, which Schroder said belongs under the “S.” He added the person who came up with the acronym spent a lot of time, because it’s not as wildly known as the New Green Deal, when it partakes of the same ideas.

ESG policies are a form of leftist activism in financial investing that has become the latest vector to influence the way Wall Street financial firms and corporations continue to take social and political positions that do not relate to their business, such as stances associated with climate change, as well as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) agenda. Wall Street firms, such as BlackRock and others, sell ESG as a way to invest according to specific criteria that the political left pushes on voters and consumers.

Ultimately, Schroder said that even though he has taken steps to steer away from companies engaged in the ESG movement or companies trying to penalize Louisiana by using specific policies, he doesn’t want to “tell people” ESG policies are “bad” because he instead wants to show the public what is happening through numbers.

“I’m having a study done … on how much of that money is invested inside the state of Louisiana. How much is invested inside the United States? And then how much is it outside the United States,” Schroder explained, hoping it helps Louisianans understand where their money is being invested. As the state’s treasurer, he believes if the report — which his office said will be out soon — shows that barely any money from the state’s pension programs are invested inside the state, or not even in the United States, people will start to ask questions.

“I’m not going to be surprised to see these numbers come back where half this money is not invested inside the United States. And quite frankly, if we’re not willing to invest in ourselves, either in a state or as a country, then who is or who should,” Schroder added. “I think we need to start paying attention to where we are investing our money… I don’t like investing in countries who want to see the United States’ demise.”

Over the last year, and specifically the last few months, more Republicans across the United States have started to take aim at the ESG policy movement. Multiple Republican-led states across the United States, including Louisiana, have begun pulling money they have invested out of BlackRock due to its leftist activism in financial investing.

Additionally, last month, multiple state treasurers attending SFOF’s conference presenting strategies to combat ESG policies. With one of the main focuses on educating Americans on the dangers of ESG policies, the group launched a website and a video explainer.

Multiple state treasurers at the conference also explained to Breitbart News that ESG policies hurt each state differently but collectively hurt all American taxpayers financially. Hence, they came together in a joint effort to combat the left-wing policies masquerading as economics.

Given the unique ability the SFOF members have by being in charge of their state’s financials, Schroder concluded that he’s proud to be the chair of the organization since it has “taken a strong stance” on ESG policies and has “taken the fight to corporate America” unlike other organizations in the United States.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.