Daily Caller Piece: The Head Of BlackRock Is ‘Ashamed’ Of ESG? Give Me A Break

[Note: This story is also published at the Daily Caller.]

The big news in energy this week is that BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says he is no longer using the term “ESG” in his business communications. Even more, Mr. Fink is now “ashamed” to be a participant in the debate on the issue. At least, that’s what he initially said on Sunday to an audience at the Aspen Ideas Festival, where he was a speaker.

“I’m ashamed of being part of this conversation,” Fink said as quoted by Axios. But almost as soon as he made the admission, Fink took it all back when pressed by his session’s moderator. “I never said I was ashamed,” he said, even though he had just actually said that very thing. “I’m not ashamed. I do believe in conscientious capitalism.”

Finally, apparently realizing he’d been caught in self-contradiction, he added, “I’m not going to use the word ESG because it’s been misused by the far left and the far right.” Here we see Mr. Fink trying to have things both ways: He strongly believes in the philosophy that he played such a big role in building across society, but thinks he can somehow expunge that role by not using the ‘E’ ‘S’ or ‘G’ word. (RELATED: DAVID BLACKMON: This Might Be The Biden Admin’s Most Ludicrous Idea Yet)

In engaging in this brief, self-contradicting conversation in Aspen, Mr. Fink simply reflected the strategy employed by his firm in communications with officials in Texas and other conservative states that have enacted measures in recent years designed to curb the influence of ESG investor firms in their state’s economies.