On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) stated that the Biden administration’s ESG investment rule is an attempt to push out fossil fuels before we’re ready to do so and “puts our economy in jeopardy” and argued that the geopolitical risk from ending up like Europe “should be evaluated the same as anything else.”
Manchin stated, “When you start putting ESG and basically making evaluations on the environmental impacts, I think we all have a responsibility and we’ve done a good job on that. We’ve reduced our emissions by more than any other country in the free world. So, with that being said, then why don’t they look [at] the geopolitical risk that’s involved? Why don’t you evaluate that too? Why don’t you ask Europe what’s happened to them, ask Germany what’s happened to their economy? Look what Putin did to weaponize energy. The geopolitical risk should be evaluated the same as anything else. Because the fallout would be, if you’re trying to put pressure and get rid of fossil before we have anything to replace it, you are going to damage our economy and make our country much weaker. That’s what I’ve been fighting for, energy security. So, geopolitical risks should be evaluated just as much as they’re talking ESG.”
He added, “The market will tell you when there’s something to replace the fossil and the horsepower that comes from the coal, the gas, and the oil…the market will move when the market’s ready to move and replace it. We’re not ready yet. For the administration to move in and accelerate that before we’re ready, just puts our economy in jeopardy and also the return on investment that people need for their retirement.”
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