Investing based on ESG concerns - July 10

[dan_s]

One of the questions asked during our webinar yesterday was the fact that some large funds will no longer invest in oil & gas because of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns. Here is a link to an article that addresses the issue much better than I can.
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At the end of last month, the U.S. Department of Labor proposed a new rule, which explicitly says that retirement plan fiduciaries must select investments and investment courses of action “based solely on financial considerations relevant to the risk-adjusted economic value of a particular investment or investment course of action.”

“The Department is concerned, however, that the growing emphasis on ESG investing may be prompting ERISA plan fiduciaries to make investment decisions for purposes distinct from providing benefits to participants and beneficiaries and defraying reasonable expenses of administering the plan,” it said in the proposed rule.

Read more: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News ... ustry.html

MY TAKE: Most money managers want to make money and the more their fund makes the more they get paid. If oil & gas prices do get back to the "Right Price" that I mentioned in the webinar, there will be more than enough money flow back into the energy sector to raise stock prices.

[dan_s]

With regard to what happens if Biden becomes the president.

Biden-Sanders task force's climate plan excludes fracking ban, sees FERC role . S&P Global
The task forces created by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and former candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders to unify the party's agenda around key topics published their policy recommendations July 8. Noticeably, a climate-change focused panel did not call for a ban on hydraulic fracturing.

Biden says fracking jobs won't be 'on the chopping block' if he's elected . Newsweek
Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden has said, "Fracking is not going to be on the chopping block," if he's elected president, a statement which may rile left-leaning climate change activists and supporters of renewable energy. An interviewer with Pennsylvanian ABC News affiliate WNEP, asked Biden, "We're losing a lot of jobs overseas, losing jobs to COVID-19, and if fracking is on the chopping block, how are you going to help these displaced workers?"
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MY TAKE: Biden can ban fracking on federal lands, but not on private lands without a long legal battle. If fracking is totally banned U.S. oil production would decline rapidly, we could kiss any hope of energy independence goodbye and gasoline prices would spike to $5.00/gallon within a year. This is not an idea that many voters would like.