Several Nebraska legislators are demanding that the state cease doing business with an investment firm because it’s linked to social-justice initiatives that they say could harm the cattle industry.
Five state senators signed a letter to the Nebraska Investment Council, an independent governmental agency that guides investment of state funds. They want state funds divested from Genstar Capital, which they say received “a minimum of $100 million” since 2017.
The senators are upset because Genstar owns Institutional Shareholder Services, an advisory firm that specializes in corporate social environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. They see this as a threat to cattle-raising, an important Nebraska industry.
“ISS has actively promoted so-called ‘Environmental, Social, Governance’ (ESG) policies which placed harsh restrictions on the cattle industry in the United States by pushing limitations on greenhouse gasses [sic]. It has pushed this dangerous agenda by using its influence with investment firms...to push companies to unduly divest themselves from ‘fossil fuels,’” the letter says.
The letter was written at the request of the Corporate Citizenship Project, which bills itself as “an independent think-tank” that opposes corporate ESG initiatives.
