As always, follow the money.  

The good news is that at more and more companies, shareholders are putting forward a significantly increased number of proposals at corporate annual meetings.  In many cases, they are being passed.  Even at Exxon Mobil.  The effects of climate change especially is causing shareholders alarm for the future profits and viability of the companies they hold in their investment portfolios.  So, the ability of shareholders to put forward these proposals is critical.

 

“Beyond the sheer numbers of environmental and other social-oriented shareholder proposals introduced in 2017, a subset of these proposals have received unprecedented shareholder voting support,”

 

As reported above, regardless of how much stock is owned by whoever offers the proposal it is getting support and in certain cases getting adopted.  

Now, the bad news…  The Republicans in Congress are supporting corporate interests over that of the public. 

 

The surge among stockholders for companies to implement environmental policies comes at a time when Republicans in Congress are pushing forward a financial deregulation bill that would all but silence shareholder input.

The House passed the “Financial Choice Act” in early June. Now in the Senate, the bill would require investors to own 1 percent of a company’s stock to file a resolution. For the biggest American companies, that would require billions of dollars’ worth of stock, while for smaller companies, the cutoff point would still be tens of millions of dollars.

Environmental advocates say the bill would cut off a major tool for consumer and investor protection (Climatewire, June 9).

 

This is a horrific development just when there is progress to get our biggest companies to address corporate action on climate change and social-oriented issues.  It is especially critical to blunt the efforts of the Trump Administration and Republican controlled Congress to prioritize corporate interests over that of the general public.  

 
images

I wish I knew how to stop this from happening other than to tell you to call your Congressperson’s and Senator’s office and let them know you object to this legislation.  And vote against anyone who supports this bill in the next election.  

 
 
 

Investors Increasingly Want Action on Climate — Study

Investors are showing an increased appetite for companies to take action on climate change and other environmental issues.

Stockholders in 2017 filed a record number of proposals about social and environmental issues — like climate change — and received a never-before-seen level of support for their efforts, according to a new analysis by the Manhattan Institute think tank.

Proposals about social and environmental issues made up 56 percent of all proposals tracked at major public U.S. companies this year. Authors James Copland and Margaret O’Keefe said those social and environmental proposals have gotten the strongest levels of support they’ve seen since 2006, when the Manhattan Institute began tracking resolutions through a database.
The rise in investor demand could be explained by a number of factors, including growing concern of the economic pitfalls of climate change and a response to the election of Donald Trump, according to the study.
“Beyond the sheer numbers of environmental and other social-oriented shareholder proposals introduced in 2017, a subset of these proposals have received unprecedented shareholder voting support,” Copland and O’Keefe said.
On average, investor support in 2017 for environmental proposals jumped to 27 percent, the highest figure on record, according to the report.

The surge among stockholders for companies to implement environmental policies comes at a time when Republicans in Congress are pushing forward a financial deregulation bill that would all but silence shareholder input.

The House passed the “Financial Choice Act” in early June. Now in the Senate, the bill would require investors to own 1 percent of a company’s stock to file a resolution. For the biggest American companies, that would require billions of dollars’ worth of stock, while for smaller companies, the cutoff point would still be tens of millions of dollars.

Environmental advocates say the bill would cut off a major tool for consumer and investor protection (Climatewire, June 9).

Advocates notched some of their biggest victories with major oil and utility companies this year.
“Without a doubt, the 2017 proxy season is being seen as historic by shareholders who have long advocated for climate change mitigation strategies,” Christina Herman, program director for climate change at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, said in a statement.

Climate resolutions passed at power companies PPL Corp., Dominion Energy Inc. and Duke Energy Corp., as well as oil firms Occidental Petroleum Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp.

Twitter: @benhulac Email: bhulac@eenews.net

Leave a comment

FranklyTalking © 2022 All rights reserved.