Here are the 14 states fighting ESG. Is YOURS?

This week on his Wednesday night Glenn TV special, Glenn will delve into ESG and how large corporations are using YOUR money to fund woke agendas—while also compromising the return on your investment. As Glenn's audience is well aware, ESG stands for "environmental, social, and governance." It's a scoring system for businesses based on their compliance with environmental and social standards that has turned into a quasi-extortion scheme, forcing investment companies to use YOUR assets to fund progressive projects.

It is vitally important that fighting ESG becomes a central campaign item heading into the 2024 Presidential debate. 14 states have already stepped up to put measures in place to fight ESG. Did your state make the list? If not, as Glenn said, you should call your Congressional office NOW to push them to bring this legislation to the table. Though it can be discouraging to watch national politics, heroes in YOUR state are stepping up to defend your rights and freedoms through legislation that is actually getting things done.

1. Arizona

The Arizona State Board of Investment adopted anti-ESG revisions to its investment policy, specifying that only "pecuniary factors" may be considered in the investment management of its asset pools—that means they can only use your money for a return on investment, NOT to fund a woke agenda.

However, Arizona's new Democrat AG Kris Mayes recently announced the state will no longer conduct investigations into corporations over ESG matters. Here's what she said:

Corporations should be permitted to access capital markets in ways that they feel are necessary for the advancement of their investor objectives and for society, as long as they are doing so in a lawful manner. Corporations increasingly realize that investing in sustainability is both good for our country, our environment, and public health and good for their bottom lines.

If you are an Arizona resident, call your Congressional office to push back against Mayes' recent policy.

2. Idaho

Found Image Holdings Inc / Contributor | Getty Images

Republican Idaho state legislators have been preparing anti-ESG legislation in 2022 to push to the floor in 2023. If you are an Idaho resident, contact your Congressional office to help push this legislation forward.

3. Indiana

media.giphy.com

On February 28th, Indiana's state House passed anti-ESG laws. The bill's author Rep. Ethan Manning said:

ESG, or so-called environmental, social and governance policies, are highly subjective measures that have real-world impacts. We need to focus our pension investments, the roughly $45 billion in assets we control, on financial factors, and leave politics and social and ideological considerations out of it.

Manning hit the nail on the head: investment firms should leave politics out of YOUR money. If you are an Indiana resident, help push this bill into law by contacting your local Congressional office.

5. Florida

​Florida has been one of the original states leading the pack in passing anti-ESG laws. On the day of its announcement, Governor Ron DeSantis said:

Today’s announcement builds on my commitment to protect consumers’ investments and their ability to access financial services in the Free State of Florida. By applying arbitrary ESG financial metrics that serve no one except the companies that created them, elites are circumventing the ballot box to implement a radical ideological agenda. Through this legislation, we will protect the investments of Floridians and the ability of Floridians to participate in the economy.

DeSantis said it well: anti-ESG laws are about protecting consumers from elites who want to use YOUR money to fund their own political agendas.

4. Kansas

Glenn had Kansas state Rep Michael Murphy on his show (3/06/23) to discuss the anti-ESG legislation he is pushing in the Kansas state House. Kansas residents, give Rep. Murphy and the other GOP Reps the extra help to push this legislation forward!

6. Kentucky

Jim Steinfeldt / Contributor | Getty Images

Not only does Kentucky have anti-ESG laws in place, but moreover, the state's AG Daniel Cameron launched an investigation into major banks, including Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo for "anti-trust" practices and for locking consumers out of their assets over ESG conflicts. AG Cameron said:

Kentucky’s consumer protection and antitrust laws prohibit companies from engaging in coordinated practices that block certain Kentucky businesses from accessing banking services. We joined this investigation to ensure Kentucky companies that reject the Biden Administration’s anti-fossil fuel climate agenda have the same financial freedoms as those who accept it.

It is inspiring to see states like Kentucky take such a strong stance for the consumer rights of their people!

7. Louisiana

Found Image Holdings Inc / Contributor | Getty Images

Louisiana liquidated ALL of its funds from BlackRock, totaling $800 million, over its ESG and anti-fossil fuel practices. Louisiana state Treasurer John Schroder said:

Your blatantly anti-fossil fuel policies would destroy Louisiana’s economy. This divestment is necessary to protect Louisiana from actions and policies that would actively seek to hamstring our fossil fuel sector. In my opinion, your support of ESG investing is inconsistent with the best economic interests and values of Louisiana. I cannot support an institution that would deny our state the benefit of one of its most robust assets.

Without anti-ESG laws, states like Louisiana, whose economy relies largely on fossil fuels, would be victim to investment funds using THEIR state money for anti-fossil fuel agendas. Sound unfair? Because it is...

If you live in a state that relies on a fossil fuel economy, it is VITAL that you push anti-ESG legislation in your state.

8. North Dakota

Harvey Meston / Staff | Getty Images

​South Dakota passed anti-ESG laws, however, there is a risk that the state is pulling back its ESG protections. The North Dakota House voted down a resolution to boycott pro-ESG institutions and block financial institutions. This is especially troubling for North Dakota, which has an oil-dependent economy. If you are a North Dakota resident, it is vitally important that you push back against this regression away from ESG protections

9. Oklahoma

Oklahoma passed the Energy Discrimination Elimination Act in May 2022, and it went into effect in November. The law declares the oil-and-gas industry a vital part of the economy and that the state and companies that do business with the state should not boycott the oil and gas industry. Oklahoma State Treasurer Todd Russ subsequently sent questionnaires to national financial institutions to determine which companies are in breach of state law. Russ said:

I [...] began compiling a list of companies, banks, and other entities that act against Oklahoma’s interests because of their ESG stance. It is my responsibility to ensure Oklahomans’ tax dollars will not be used to enrich organizations that act counter to our taxpayers’ interests and our values.

Oklahoma is another example of how oil-rich states are leading the fight against ESG.

10. Texas

Texas was the first state to pass anti-ESG legislation in 2021. However, Texas lawmakers are now proposing to expand anti-ESG protections, prohibiting pension fund managers and insurance managers from making investment decisions that are detrimental or in conflict to Texas' oil and gas industry. Like Louisiana and other fossil-duel dependent economies, this expansion of anti-ESG legislation is vital. If you are a Texas resident, contact your local Congressional office NOW to help push this legislation through the floor.

11. Pennsylvania

Archive Photos / Stringer | Getty Images

In 2022, the Pennsylvania state House proposed the "Liberty, Virtue, and Independence Act" against ESG. The bill stated:

The practice of discrimination against any Commonwealth inhabitants, including individuals, associations and businesses, through use of their social credit score or environmental, social or governance score is a matter of Statewide concern. Discrimination based on the scores not only threatens the rights and privileges of Commonwealth inhabitants, but menaces the institutions and foundation of our free democratic state and threatens the peace, order, health, safety and general welfare of the Commonwealth and its inhabitants.

Unfortunately, this bill has not been passed, but state Republicans are still fighting to pass anti-ESG legislation to protect the state's vital coal industry. If you live in Pennsylvania, contact your Congressional office NOW to help push this legislation through.

12. South Carolina

South Carolina has been trying to push anti-ESG protections since August 2022. One of the state lawmakers promoting this legislation, state Senator Josh Kimbrell, said, "(ESG) scores represent a great threat to free speech and free enterprise in South Carolina and across America." If you're a South Carolina resident, contact your local Congressional office to help push this legislation through.

13. Utah

Utah's state government is currently pushing anti-ESG legislation, arguing that ESG violates antitrust laws. Rep. Ken Ivory, who is one of the bill's sponsors, calls ESG the "weaponization of capitol." If you are a Utah resident, contact your Congressional office to help push this legislation through.

14. West Virginia

In late July, West Virginia became the first state to punish banks that abide to ESG standards and the first state to divest their funds from BlackRock, inspiring other states like Louisiana to follow suit. Now, they are expanding their anti-ESG protections to include pensions fund managers.

West crumbling: Is it worth saving now?

Harvey Meston / Staff | Getty Images

The blood of martyrs, prophets, poets, and soldiers built our civilization. Their sacrifice demands courage in the present to preserve it.

Lamentations asks, “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?”

That question has been weighing on me heavily. Not just as a broadcaster, but as a citizen, a father, a husband, a believer. It is a question that every person who cares about this nation, this culture, and this civilization must confront: Is all of this worth saving?

We have squandered this inheritance. We forgot who we were — and our enemies are eager to write our ending.

Western civilization — a project born in Judea, refined in Athens, tested in Rome, reawakened in Wittenberg, and baptized again on the shores of Plymouth Rock — is a gift. We didn’t earn it. We didn’t purchase it. We were handed it. And now, we must ask ourselves: Do we even want it?

Across Europe, streets are restless. Not merely with protests, but with ancient, festering hatred — the kind that once marched under swastikas and fueled ovens. Today, it marches under banners of peace while chanting calls for genocide. Violence and division crack societies open. Here in America, it’s left against right, flesh against spirit, neighbor against neighbor.

Truth struggles to find a home. Even the church is slumbering — or worse, collaborating.

Our society tells us that everything must be reset: tradition, marriage, gender, faith, even love. The only sin left is believing in absolute truth. Screens replace Scripture. Entertainment replaces education. Pleasure replaces purpose. Our children are confused, medicated, addicted, fatherless, suicidal. Universities mock virtue. Congress is indifferent. Media programs rather than informs. Schools recondition rather than educate.

Is this worth saving? If not, we should stop fighting and throw up our hands. But if it is, then we must act — and we must act now.

The West: An idea worth saving

What is the West? It’s not a location, race, flag, or a particular constitution. The West is an idea — an idea that man is made in the image of God, that liberty comes from responsibility, not government; that truth exists; that evil exists; and that courage is required every day. The West teaches that education, reason, and revelation walk hand in hand. Beauty matters. Kindness matters. Empathy matters. Sacrifice is holy. Justice is blind. Mercy is near.

We have squandered this inheritance. We forgot who we were — and our enemies are eager to write our ending.

If not now, when? If not us, who? If this is worth saving, we must know why. Western civilization is worth dying for, worth living for, worth defending. It was built on the blood of martyrs, prophets, poets, pilgrims, moms, dads, and soldiers. They did not die for markets, pronouns, surveillance, or currency. They died for something higher, something bigger.

MATTHIEU RONDEL/AFP via Getty Images | Getty Images

Yet hope remains. Resurrection is real — not only in the tomb outside Jerusalem, but in the bones of any individual or group that returns to truth, honor, and God. It is never too late to return to family, community, accountability, and responsibility.

Pick up your torch

We were chosen for this time. We were made for a moment like this. The events unfolding in Europe and South Korea, the unrest and moral collapse, will all come down to us. Somewhere inside, we know we were called to carry this fire.

We are not called to win. We are called to stand. To hold the torch. To ask ourselves, every day: Is it worth standing? Is it worth saving?

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Pick up your torch. If you choose to carry it, buckle up. The work is only beginning.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Stop coasting: How self-education can save America’s future

Joe Raedle / Staff | Getty Images

Coasting through life is no longer an option. Charlie Kirk’s pursuit of knowledge challenges all of us to learn, act, and grow every day.

Last year, my wife and I made a commitment: to stop coasting, to learn something new every day, and to grow — not just spiritually, but intellectually. Charlie Kirk’s tragic death crystallized that resolve. It forced a hard look in the mirror, revealing how much I had coasted in both my spiritual and educational life. Coasting implies going downhill. You can’t coast uphill.

Last night, my wife and I re-engaged. We enrolled in Hillsdale College’s free online courses, inspired by the fact that Charlie had done the same. He had quietly completed around 30 courses before I even knew, mastering the classics, civics, and the foundations of liberty. Watching his relentless pursuit of knowledge reminded me that growth never stops, no matter your age.

The path forward must be reclaiming education, agency, and the power to shape our minds and futures.

This lesson is particularly urgent for two groups: young adults stepping into the world and those who may have settled into complacency. Learning is life. Stop learning, and you start dying. To young adults, especially, the college promise has become a trap. Twelve years of K-12 education now leave graduates unprepared for life. Only 35% of seniors are proficient in reading, and just 22% in math. They are asked to bet $100,000 or more for four years of college that will often leave them underemployed and deeply indebted.

Degrees in many “new” fields now carry negative returns. Parents who have already sacrificed for public education find themselves on the hook again, paying for a system that often fails to deliver.

This is one of the reasons why Charlie often described college as a “scam.” Debt accumulates, wages are not what students were promised, doors remain closed, and many are tempted to throw more time and money after a system that won’t yield results. Graduate school, in many cases, compounds the problem. The education system has become a factory of despair, teaching cynicism rather than knowledge and virtue.

Reclaiming educational agency

Yet the solution is not radical revolt against education — it is empowerment to reclaim agency over one’s education. Independent learning, self-guided study, and disciplined curiosity are the modern “Napster moment.” Just as Napster broke the old record industry by digitizing music, the internet has placed knowledge directly in the hands of the individual. Artists like Taylor Swift now thrive outside traditional gatekeepers. Likewise, students and lifelong learners can reclaim intellectual freedom outside of the ivory towers.

Each individual possesses the ability to think, create, and act. This is the power God grants to every human being. Knowledge, faith, and personal responsibility are inseparable. Learning is not a commodity to buy with tuition; it is a birthright to claim with effort.

David Butow / Contributor | Getty Images

Charlie Kirk’s life reminds us that self-education is an act of defiance and empowerment. In his pursuit of knowledge, in his engagement with civics and philosophy, he exemplified the principle that liberty depends on informed, capable citizens. We honor him best by taking up that mantle — by learning relentlessly, thinking critically, and refusing to surrender our minds to a system that profits from ignorance.

The path forward must be reclaiming education, agency, and the power to shape our minds and futures. Every day, seek to grow, create, and act. Charlie showed the way. It is now our responsibility to follow.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck joins TPUSA tour to honor Charlie Kirk

Joe Raedle / Staff | Getty Images

If they thought the murder of Charlie Kirk would scare us into silence, they were wrong!

If anything, Turning Point will hit the road louder than ever. On Monday, September 22, less than two weeks after the assassination, Charlie's friends united under the Turning Point USA banner to carry his torch and honor his legacy by doing what he did best: bringing honest and truthful debate to Universities across the nation.

Naturally, Glenn has rallied to the cause and has accepted an invitation to join the TPUSA tour at the University of North Dakota on October 9th.

Want to join Glenn at the University of North Dakota to honor Charlie Kirk and keep his mission alive? Click HERE to sign up or find more information.

Glenn's daughter honors Charlie Kirk with emotional tribute song

MELISSA MAJCHRZAK / Contributor | Getty Images

On September 17th, Glenn commemorated his late friend Charlie Kirk by hosting The Charlie Kirk Show Podcast, where he celebrated and remembered the life of a remarkable young man.

During the broadcast, Glenn shared an emotional new song performed by his daughter, Cheyenne, who was standing only feet away from Charlie when he was assassinated. The song, titled "We Are One," has been dedicated to Charlie Kirk as a tribute and was written and co-performed by David Osmond, son of Alan Osmond, founding member of The Osmonds.

Glenn first asked David Osmond to write "We Are One" in 2018, as he predicted that dark days were on the horizon, but he never imagined that it would be sung by his daughter in honor of Charlie Kirk. The Lord works in mysterious ways; could there have been a more fitting song to honor such a brave man?

"We Are One" is available for download or listening on Spotify HERE