President Joe Biden vetoed legislation on Monday that would have overturned a Labor Department rule allowing retirement fiduciaries to invest in accordance with the environmental, social, and corporate governance movement, also known as ESG.
The Labor Department issued a final rule last year that reflected the Biden administration’s purported efforts to safeguard the economy from “climate-related financial risk that may threaten the life savings and pensions of America’s workers and families.” Under the new rule, which reverses a prohibition created under the Trump administration, fiduciaries are allowed to weigh “the economic effects of climate change and other ESG considerations” as long as the concerns are relevant to a risk-and-return analysis.
The veto, which is the first issued by Biden, overturns a resolution passed by Republicans and a handful of Democrats in order to nix the rule. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), both of whom are campaigning…