On July 18, 2025, The Atlantic published an article titled “How the Right is Waging War on Climate-Conscious Investing,” portraying efforts to block responsible investing as an unstoppable wave. The facts tell a different story. The article suggests an ideological backlash against responsible investing is winning. From Freedom to Invest’s perspective, and based on the facts on the ground, that depiction misses the mark.
Here are the facts:
Since 2023, state lawmakers from across the country have introduced 432 bills designed to block or punish investment strategies that weigh long-term environmental, workforce, and governance risks. Reading The Atlantic, you’d assume they were all successful. In fact, less than eight percent of all the bills introduced ever became law – representing a 92% failure rate. Of the handful that did pass, most were watered down beyond recognition.
Why the resistance? Because communities have learned the hard way that politicizing investment decisions drains local budgets. The Texas Association of Business found that the state’s flagship investment-restriction statute, SB 13, has already wiped out nearly $700 million in economic activity and tax revenue. In Oklahoma, the Rural Association reported that its Energy Discrimination Elimination Act boosted municipal borrowing costs by 59 basis points and $184 million if additional expenses were implemented after the law’s passage.
The Freedom to Invest initiative has helped bring together free market advocates to help defeat or dilute hundreds of these bills. All without the billion-dollar war chest on the other side. We have prevailed with facts, local voices, and a clear mission: Americans, not politicians, should decide how and where to invest their own money.
Steven M. Rothstein is the Chief Program Officer at Ceres. He oversees the Freedom to Invest initiative.