Americans do not want investment firms to spend their hard-earned retirement money spent on climate change and would prefer investment firms to focus on maximizing profits for retirement, a poll exclusive to Breitbart News conducted by CRC Research for the 85 fund shows.
The poll conducted earlier this month with 1,600 registered voters in the United States showed a majority (59 percent) of the respondents said the primary focus for government pension funds investing their money should be maximizing the amount of money earned for retirees.
Only 21 percent of respondents said government pension funds should prioritize impacting socially conscientious public policy, while another 14 percent were unsure, and another six percent said “other.” Additionally, when asked about their own money, 37 percent also said they would not want to spend any of their money on reducing the impact of climate change, while barely one percent said they would spend more than $10,000 monthly.
Big investment firms — like BlackRock — are pushing “net zero” initiatives to fight climate change, which is one of the main components of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policy movement and has become one of the leading issues on both sides of the aisle. It also has direct state action being taken to counter its influence on big investment firms.
Big investment firms like BlackRock have purposefully left ESG’s definition ambiguous to make it easier to fit their chosen political agendas under the ESG umbrella. The poll showed that 70 percent of respondents said they had never heard of the ESG policy movement. And another 73 percent said they do not remember seeing, reading, or hearing anything about the policy movement.
However, once broken down and clearly defined, the respondents strongly agree with taking action against it:
- Sixty-two percent agree “states should not do business with companies that advocate for policies that hurt their state’s economy,” while only 22 percent disagree.
- Sixty-eight percent agree “states should not do business with companies that advocate for policies that make electricity more expensive for the state’s consumers,” while 20 percent disagree.
- Seventy percent agree “states should not do business with companies that advocate for policies that make gasoline more expensive for the state’s consumers,” while 20 percent disagree.
- Seventy-two percent agree “states should not do business with companies that advocate for policies that make gasoline more expensive for the state’s consumers,” while 19 percent disagree.
- Seventy percent agree “states should not do business with companies that help build coal plants and pipelines in China while trying to shut down coal plants and pipelines in the United States,” while 17 percent disagree.
Furthermore, 71 percent agree with the states that have fired companies managing their state’s pension funds if they prioritized a political agenda over maximizing financial returns for retirees, while only 16 percent disagree. And 72 percent agree that states should state up to “politicizing pension funds and defend the financial interests of the state and their citizens” because “corporate elites are trying to force states to follow a political agenda that will damage the state’s economy and increase gas prices and electric bills.”
The poll was conducted by CRC Research for the 85 fund from January 2 to 5, with 1,600 registered voters nationwide that were randomly selected. There was a 2.45 percent overall margin of error with a 95 percent confidence interval. It was also noted that some subgroups with smaller respondents have a larger margin of error.
January 2 National Survey Analysis ESG by Breitbart News on Scribd
Will Hild, the executive director of Consumers’ Research, told Breitbart News, “This poll shows exactly what we’ve known for some time.”
“Although Wall Street elites like BlackRock CEO Larry Fink are intentionally hiding their push for progressive policies under the ambiguous title of ESG, Americans don’t want what their forcing on us,” Hild added. “What the American people want is for their asset managers to focus on profits, not politics, and for companies to focus on customers, not woke activism. At Consumers’ Research, we will continue to educate the American consumer and fight on their behalf against ESG elites who look down on them while using their money to run their lives from a board room in New York City.”
Additionally, State Financial Officers Foundation CEO Derek Kreifels told Breitbart News, “The American people are tired of companies playing politics with their hard-earned money.”
Kreifels added, “This poll clearly shows the State Financial Officers Foundation taking action against ESG investing is right in line with their constituency. State financial officers around the country are pushing back against companies like BlackRock who have shown time and time again that they care more about political agendas than profits for Americans’ retirement funds. It is past time for corporate elites to stop pushing political agendas on Americans and upholding their fiduciary responsibility.”
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.
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