(National Center for Public Policy Research) Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon made no apologies today for imposing restrictive carbon policies upon other American corporations, claiming these efforts best serve his clients. The Free Enterprise Project (FEP) disagreed, telling Solomon that these policies are in fact “ill-considered and deeply damaging.”
At Goldman Sachs’s annual shareholder meeting, Davis Soderberg, FEP Associate at the National Center for Public Policy Research, submitted this question:
Under the guise of supporting “ESG” investing, Goldman Sachs is pushing companies to make carbon-reduction decisions that, given carbon-output increases in China and India, can have no effect on the environment while greatly reducing American standards of living; while introducing racist and sexist “critical race” and “woke” quotas and doctrines into every aspect of working life. What specific measures is Goldman Sachs taking to make sure that ESG doesn’t just become a front for pushing ill-considered and deeply damaging radical political positions on American corporations?
Solomon responded:
Davis, thank you for your question. For us, sustainability is embedded in the work we do for our clients, increasingly important and relevant to them. Our sustainable finance commitment reflects our ability to respond to what we see as a clear shift toward where our clients are going. Our strategy is integrated with the purpose of our firm to advance sustainable economic growth and financial opportunity to ensure credibility with stakeholders both internal and external. Our people recognize that inclusive growth and climate transition are increasingly drivers of risk and opportunities for our clients. Given the scale of our ambition, our focus has been on how to effectively operationalize this commitment to give our people the tools to best serve our clients.
The audio of Soderberg’s question and Solomon’s answer can be heard here.
“Solomon proved that he is no different than any other woke CEO we have confronted in shareholder meetings this year,” responded Soderberg after the meeting.
“He read off a seemingly pre-scripted excuse for enacting ESG policies and for pushing stakeholder capitalism down the throats of shareholders. His ‘answer’ came nowhere close to justifying Goldman’s far-left green zero-carbon initiative, especially since the largest contributors to carbon emissions, China and India, have shown no signs of playing their part in reductions.”
“Solomon’s rote answer made clear that Goldman is doing nothing to ensure that ESG isn’t simply being used as a pleasant-sounding facade for divisive, destructive hard-left policies that will hurt Goldman Sachs, the American economy and civil society,” added FEP Deputy Director Scott Shepard, who also attended the meeting.
“He and other Goldman executives know that zero-carbon here is meaningless to the climate when India and China are full-speed ahead. And he knows that full reliance on renewables will make average American lives much poorer and much riskier. He knows that wokeness is racist and sexist to its core, yet he and Goldman will continue to embrace it and force it upon other American corporations at all costs.”
“Solomon, like so many other business executives, is ignoring his fiduciary duty to his shareholders,” added Soderberg…
Conservative investors can learn how to oppose leftism in corporate America by downloading FEP’s new 2021 Investor Value Voter Guide. The new website Stop Corporate Tyranny also provides tools for engagement with corporate leaders.
