Republican Attorneys General Warn Companies That Grandiose Climate Promises May Violate the Law

A group of Republican attorneys general is warning three corporations that their net-zero climate commitments might be illegal if they are deceiving consumers and other relevant stakeholders.

Iowa attorney general Brenna Bird wrote letters to the CEOs of Target, Tyson Foods, and Ahold Delhaize USA asking for more information about their net-zero initiatives to determine whether they could be subject to consumer-protection lawsuits, National Review has learned.

“A topic of growing concern in our States is the imposition of various economic, social, and governance commitments made by corporate managements and whether those commitments are misleading to consumers and other relevant parties. There is great concern that many commitments violate State law. And those worries echo across the country,” the attorneys general wrote in three separate letters to the respective CEOs.

“Our letter intends to encourage your companies to abandon ESG policies that create undue litigation risk. Those policies embrace impossible-to-achieve goals that create potential for consumer fraud violations.”

Bird wrote the letters in concert with Kansas attorney general Kris Kobach, Nebraska attorney general Mike Hilgers, and Tennessee attorney general Jonathan Skrmetti. They cite a letter from consumer-advocacy organization Consumers Research, an activist group opposed to environmental, social, and governance investing and progressive corporate activism.

“Over the past few years, it has become increasingly apparent that the grandiose net zero commitments of many corporations are incompatible with their business models and their fiduciary duties to shareholders,” Skrmetti said in a statement provided to National Review.

“I’m proud to join Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird in this effort to clarify the current policies of companies whose broad climate commitments seem tough to square with their business practices. Consumers need accurate information when they decide how to spend their hard-earned money.”

National Review has asked the three companies for comment. The Republican AGs are giving them until October 11 to deliver more specific information about the progress they have made on getting to net-zero carbon emissions.

Consumers Research sent a letter of its own to each of the three corporations suggesting that a consumer-protection lawsuit filed by New York attorney general Letitia James (D) could pave the way for similar lawsuits. James is suing beef producer JBS USA for allegedly misleading consumers over its commitment to achieving net-zero environmental impact no later than 2040.

“Costly litigation harms the consumer. And that is doubly so when one outcome of the litigation is the removal of food products from store shelves in order to meet climate commitments that should never have been made in the first place,” Consumers Research executive director Will Hild wrote to the CEOs.

Left-wing activists often criticize large corporations for “greenwashing,” a term for corporations’ practice of making grandiose climate promises for public-relations purposes with no plans to fulfill them. These activists appear to have common cause with conservatives opposed to what they believe to be corporate activism and virtue signaling designed to placate progressive activists.

Target, Tyson, and Ahold Delhaize have Web pages devoted to their net-zero emissions targets and other climate initatives. By 2040, Target is hoping to achieve net-zero emissions through adopting renewable-energy alternatives in its operations and supply chains. Tyson is promising to get to net zero by 2050, although it is already facing a lawsuit from a climate-activist group claiming it is misleading consumers and investors with its net-zero promises.

Ahold Delhaize pledges to reduce its carbon emissions to net zero no later than 2050 for scope 3 greenhouse-gas emissions, and 2040 for scope 1 and scope 2 emissions. The company has a detailed plan for its short-term and intermediate emissions-reduction targets compared to its 2018 baseline.