Wall Street Journal 5/27/2021
Progressives know they can’t pass their ambition to eliminate fossil fuels through Congress in open debate. So they’re doing it by degrees and in relative stealth via regulation across the economy. Consider President Biden’s executive order this month that conscripts the financial system in the climate cause.
---
Enter the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), which Congress established after the financial panic. Mr. Biden directs Ms. Yellen, as FSOC Chair, to consult with other regulators to make institutions disclose how they account for climate related-risks, including those caused by government policies.
The discretion here is broad, and expect it to be used. Banks, insurers and asset managers may soon be required to disclose, justify and perhaps write down the value of their fossil-fuels assets.
Mr. Biden also wants to enlist the trillions of dollars in American retirement accounts for his climate agenda. He directs Labor Secretary Marty Walsh to “identify agency actions that can be taken under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 . . . to protect the life savings and pensions” of Americans “from the threats of climate-related financial risk.” Translation: Retirement fund managers will soon have a fiduciary duty to reduce CO2 emissions and promote green energy.
More:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/rule-by-the-climate-technocrats-11622153870
