A U.S. congressional committee is expected to file charges on Tuesday that major Wall Street firms conspired with advocacy groups to force companies to cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to a report seen by Reuters ahead of its release.
The report is the first produced by the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee since it began investigating in late 2022 whether companies’ efforts to address climate change violate antitrust laws.
Some Republican-majority states worry such efforts could hurt fossil fuel jobs, given that Wall Street firms have already joined climate coalitions and sold investment products with an environmental, social and governance (ESG) focus.
This is happening despite the world failing to adhere to the intergovernmental agreement reached in Paris in 2015 to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) to avert the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.
In the Judiciary Committee report, committee staff accused President Biden’s administration of “failing to meaningfully investigate climate cartel collusion, let alone bring enforcement action against clear violations of long-standing U.S. antitrust laws.”
“The goal of any investigation is to inform legislative reform,” said a spokesman for Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan.
A spokesman declined to comment on the company’s interactions with U.S. antitrust regulators about the report.
The report presented preliminary findings and said the investigation was ongoing.
The committee issued subpoenas for documents and interviewed former regulators during its investigation.
Tuesday’s report focused on Climate Action 100+, a group of more than 700 investors focused on encouraging companies to reduce emissions, and said the group’s investigations were the reason several asset managers terminated their memberships this year for fear of antitrust enforcement.
The report said Climate Action 100+ is “pushing asset managers to join” and using shareholder votes to pressure them to support climate proposals that would reduce fossil fuel extraction and raise energy prices for U.S. consumers.
Climate Action 100+ did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
No antitrust lawsuits have been filed against any of the climate coalitions.
The report also criticizes the co-founders of Climate Action 100+, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and climate-focused investor group Ceres as major backers of Climate Action 100+, whose member, activist investor Arjuna Capital, “seeks to destroy fossil fuel companies,” the report said.
CalPERS and Arjuna did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Ceres did not immediately comment.
The report cites obtained work plans, meeting minutes and other documents, including emails in which Ceres directors likened their company’s work and that of Climate Action 100+ to “the world’s navies” and “land forces.”
In another internal email, he referred to Climate Action 100+’s plans to replace the board of directors of oil and gas company Exxon Mobil, saying the effort would “show we have power.”
Exxon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The report also criticized the world’s three largest asset managers, BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street, as being part of a “climate cartel.”
Representatives for BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The committee called witnesses to Wednesday’s hearing, including Ceres President Mindy LaBar.
