ESG, or the environmental, social, and corporate governance guidelines set forth by asset managers such as BlackRock, is a refuge for charlatans.

The guidelines broadly refer to the goal of achieving “net-zero” carbon emissions that have been pushed on businesses by leftists who can’t pass their environmental agenda legislatively. This fixation has done significantly more harm to the environment and social well-being than good. Companies are incentivized to pour vast resources into offsetting their emissions through projects such as reforestation or carbon capture to earn a higher ESG score despite potentially contributing to a worse environment.

ESG also allows companies to ignore legitimate environmental issues. This explains why many companies don’t protest the guidelines — they provide cover for companies’ bad policies, according to Consumers' Research Executive Director Will Hild.

For example, Duke Energy , one of the country’s largest power utility companies, has seen a rise in its ESG metric despite facing a $212 million lawsuit due to a massive environmental disaster it created when its coal ash allegedly contaminated groundwater. So, while the company allegedly caused economic and environmental devastation, its ESG score went up — as did its CEO’s salary.

In terms of output, ESG guidelines are filled with contradictions. ESG’s preoccupation with its net-zero goal sidelines other problems, such as labor rights violations, human rights abuses, or questionable governance practices that are overlooked as long as the carbon balance sheet appears positive.

But some organizations across the conservative movement are pushing back against the ESG scam and calling attention to the detrimental environmental impact of ESG mandates. Last month, the State Financial Officers Foundation gathered financial leaders, including state treasurers, auditors, and attorneys general from 28 states, to discuss their work combating ESG.

Officials such as West Virginia Treasurer Riley Moore and Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick have aggressively fought these nonsensical measures at the state level. One such measure being forced on consumers is the excess supply of electric vehicles, which are much more expensive and less efficient than traditional gas-powered vehicles.

“We're creating more demand on the electrical and the electric infrastructure in the country by trying to convert all of these hundreds of millions of people who are driving around gas-powered vehicles to having them drive around on electric vehicles,” Fitzpatrick said. “They're plugging in at their house to charge and you're creating more demand on the electric grid, and they pair that with an effort to destabilize the grid by eliminating the use of fossil fuels.”

Electric vehicle companies have some of the highest ESG ratings, despite the fact that the cobalt needed to power electric batteries is mined almost exclusively by child laborers in the Congo and processed in polluting refineries in mainland China. In fact, the extraction of lithium, cobalt, and nickel required for electric vehicle batteries often occurs in ecologically sensitive areas. Moreover, the energy-intensive production of batteries and the necessary infrastructure to support electric vehicles strain the electrical grid, further increasing the demand for fossil fuels. But ESG policies do not account for this, as they focus solely on a net-zero target.

Notably, the only electric vehicle company that doesn’t enjoy the typically high ESG ratings is Tesla, which doesn’t even crack S&P’s top 500 ESG index. It’s no secret why: Tesla founder Elon Musk posted last year that ESG is both a scam and the devil , writing that the guidelines were “weaponized by phony social justice warriors.” Tesla’s absence from ESG’s ratings is likely due to its founder’s political views, which reveals a lot about ESG’s true priorities.

These policies are, at best, counterproductive. The backward results forced on businesses by asset managers have a detrimental impact on the very goals its name claims to protect: social, environmental, and corporate responsibility. Indeed, ESG has proven to be a sanctuary for companies that want to get away with profitable yet irresponsible policies, regardless of the tragedy they may inflict.

Allison Schuster is a contributor for the Federalist, American Greatness, and the Conservateur, as well as a proud 2021 graduate of Hillsdale College.