Social justice activists often don disguises. Animal rights activists pose as farmworkers to film footage in secret. Eco protesters pose as museumgoers to glue themselves to art. But the latest trend is something new: Leftists are posing as corporate investors.

Why? Because investors own companies, and companies have power. Climate change warriors can chain themselves to every tree in the rainforest, but without the support of the public, they aren’t going to get very far. Investing offers something different: a seat at the corporate table, where decisions are made by a powerful few. Convince those few and you’re set.

Activists have learned this lesson the hard way. When PETA tried to convince lawmakers to serve vegan milk in school cafeterias, for example, the initiative was promptly rejected. And when the Biden administration targeted gas stoves , the backlash was so swift that the administration issued a “clarifying” statement within a week.

So activists changed tactics and venues. It does not matter to them whether the public supports what they’re pushing. Their solution isn’t to stop pushing, but to start pushing in places most people don’t think to look. Rather than shout their advocacy from the streets, they’re now whispering it in the ears of CEOs.

Every good subterfuge needs a name, ideally an innocuous one, and the one leftists have adopted for their environmental cause is no different: “environmental, social and governance” or “ESG.”

The mechanics of this scheme are straightforward. Activists-turned-investors co-opted a little-known, arcane process of corporate governance called proxy voting. Here's how: Activist groups, such as PETA, buy up a few shares of big, publicly traded companies. Then, as “investors,” they’re allowed to propose changes to how the company is run. These proposals get put to a shareholder vote once a year.

That season is now upon us. And the proposals are wild. PETA, for example, asked Starbucks to push soy milk in its beverages, waxing poetically about the supposed racially disparate effects of lactose intolerance and environmental impact. PETA has also described cow’s milk as “a symbol of white supremacy ” and blamed the dietary staple for allergies, diabetes, heart attacks, osteoporosis(!), and more.

De-policing is another beloved cause. This year, activists are targeting Travelers Insurance, demanding that the company stop selling insurance to police departments because it “increase[s] the potential for racist police brutality.” Activists have also targeted Comcast for sponsoring Philadelphia’s police foundation gala, demanding that Comcast conduct a “racial equity audit” to atone for this particular sin.

The Left’s favorite issue, though, is environmentalism. Activists are specifically taking aim at fossil fuels — you know, the stuff we use every day to drive to work and heat our homes. The Dutch nonprofit group Follow This , for example, is asking Shell, BP, Chevron, and Exxon to slash their “Scope 3” carbon emissions — i.e., to drill and sell less gas while also halting emissions in their entire supply chains. Should they decline, the Sierra Club is asking Wall Street to stop financing these oil companies’ projects.

From a company’s perspective, it’s often easier to cave to crazed activestors than be held hostage by them. But the rest of us are left paying the price. Actual investors (i.e., anyone with a pension, or a 401(k), or saving for a child’s education) are unwittingly funding these political games with their investment accounts. And all of us, investors or not, are worse off when our country’s political agenda is dictated by renegade activists using corporate America as their cudgel.

Justin Danhof is the head of corporate governance at Strive Asset Management .