Not long ago, Larry Fink was writing annual letters to CEOs declaring that “climate risk is investment risk.” BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street, the Big Three asset managers collectively controlling roughly $25 trillion, were telling corporate America that workforce diversity drives financial performance, that executive pay had to be tethered to long-term value, and that companies ignoring environmental risk were companies ignoring shareholder risk.

Shareholder advocacy is facing a defining moment.

Over the past year, actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission have introduced new barriers to participation in the proxy process—limiting who can file resolutions, restricting the use of exempt solicitations on EDGAR, and signaling a broader retreat from corporate disclosure requirements. Many shareholders are feeling a chill.

“The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did something extraordinary as a preface to revoking the Endangerment Finding—they revised how they evaluate air pollution rules by not counting the benefits of lives saved and illnesses avoided. The technical term for what disappeared is the ‘value of a statistical life’ (VSL)—previously measured at approximately $11.7 million per person. In its place? Nothing. Zero.”

To investors scanning quarterly earnings, the story appeared straightforward: durable federal counterparties, multi-year contracts, and predictable per-diem payments. But beneath that apparent stability lies a business model exposed to litigation, regulatory volatility, reputational damage, and profound governance risk—much of it tied to alleged abuses inside detention facilities. 

Aside from the very real and immediate risks to human health and safety inflicted at landfall, hurricanes are also making people inhabiting these areas more vulnerable. Families with houses in Florida, along the Gulf, and even the West Coast (I wrote this as I hunkered through yet another California atmospheric river) are experiencing a new phenomenon known as “climate uninsurability.”

Why are Elon Musk and Mark Cuban publicly feuding over workforce diversity? The billionaire beef is part of a larger conversation making headlines on corporate programs meant to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace.

Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, joins Casey Hogue, the host of Darts in the Dark Podcast, to discuss the history of As You Sow and its mission, conscious consumerism, the 4th industrial age, and more.

In an October 2022 episode of Voice of America: Africa News Tonight, Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow was interviewed about climate inflation. He explained that the root cause of current inflation is extreme weather . . .