Patronis: 'ESG is Against Capitalism, Against Job Creation'

Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis appeared on Newsmax's The Balance to explain Governor Ron DeSantis' (R) anti-ESG (Environmental Social Governance) agenda. Simply put, "ESG is against capitalism. It’s against job creation."

Host Eric Bolling said that he "loves the fact that" Patronis and Florida are pushing back against the ESG system.

"We've proven time and time again; the numbers don't lie; ESG investing doesn't compete with the S&P (Standard and Poor's) or other indices," Patronis added.

Patronis answers that Bolling is "correct, absolutely right."

He explains that when the infamous financial management firm BlackRock began "failing to get to the top of our portfolio," Patronis said,"enough is enough" and moved $2 billion out of the Florida Treasury managed by the company in December. He notes that this is "the largest that's been moved out of BlackRock by any state to date."

This is precisely why legislation against ESG is being proposed, specifically so that state and local governments cannot use "ESG criteria for their procurement or the scoring of their bond.d

"We've got companies that are based in Florida that are being debanked because ESG does not fit the business model that is acceptable to them," he describes. Moreover, this "is making it harder to access capital. In addition, it's against capitalism, it's against job creation," Patronis concludes.

In November, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) made similar comments on ESG practices, saying they are a potential breach of antitrust laws. Specifically, the demands imposed by the Environmental Social Governance index, such as reporting carbon emissions, restricting fossil fuel access, and implementing diverse boards; are a means of stifling competition.

Similarly, in December Rep. Byron Donalds introduced an anti-ESG bill in the House, saying that "it's no secret" this system "dramatically expands the reach of unelected federal agencies and diverts the attention of our agencies towards woke activism."