US-based shareholder advocacy NGO As You Sow has received a subpoena from the Republican-run House Judiciary Committee to provide documents related to its work on climate risk. In the subpoena, the House Judiciary Committee says that As You Sow appears to facilitate collusion by companies to impose left-wing ESG-related goals which may violate US antitrust laws. This follows an Aug 1 letter from the Committee. At the time similar letters were sent to Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), Glass Lewis, Engine No.1, Trillium Asset Management, Arjuna Capita, and Aviva Investors Americas. Danielle Fugere, President and Chief Counsel for As You Sow, said: “We are deeply disappointed in the House Judiciary Committee’s decision to issue this subpoena as part of a broader anti-climate investigation. Although we will continue to work with the Committee to answer reasonable questions, the subpoena is flawed, with demands that are inapplicable to As You Sow, and is so broad as to be virtually unbounded. Further, the antitrust allegations at the heart of the Committee’s argument twists both the facts and law. Our work increases competition and fosters new, low-cost energy innovations.”
We are deeply disappointed by @JudiciaryGOP’s decision to subpoena As You Sow. The subpoena is a deeply flawed attack on shareholder rights. Read our full response: (🧵👇)
— As You Sow (@AsYouSow) November 1, 2023
