I am so tired of hearing the boardroom and political nonsense that I have redefined ESG as Environmental Silliness and Grandstanding because that is exactly what it is. Recent news has all pointed to the flaws in grandiose promises in the near term. This blog focusses on the key letter that has changed meaning: we have moved from governance to grandstanding.
The idea expressed in governance is so rightful sounding. Wikipedia is once again helpful here:
A broad (meta) definition that encompasses many adopted definitions is “Corporate governance” describes the processes, structures, and mechanisms that influence the control and direction of corporations.” This meta definition accommodates both the narrow definitions used in specific contexts and the broader descriptions that are often presented as authoritative. The latter include: the structural definition from the Cadbury Report, which identifies corporate governance as “the system by which companies are directed and controlled” (Cadbury 1992, p. 15); and the relational-structural view adopted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) of “Corporate governance involves a set of relationships between a company’s management, its board, its shareholders and other stakeholders. Corporate governance also provides the structure through which the objectives of the company are set, and the means of attaining those objectives and monitoring performance are determined.”
Doesn’t this sound disciplined and balanced? It sure does, if and unless those involved are deluded and drank the Kool-Aid of the progressive purists and their idealistic nonsense. Once you accept the absurd ideas that you can ban natural gas, internal combustion engines, and decide that electricity is the right choice in the near term regardless of the economic and environmental impacts, you are on your way to pure grandstanding which is defined as: the action of behaving in a showy or ostentatious manner in an attempt to attract favorable attention from spectators or the media.
The recent cold weather here in Georgia is going to result in power outages because the grid is no longer being planned by rational principles. If we really believe the weather variations are going to get worse we should also realize that our historical reliability constructs are no longer conservative.
Processes, structures, control, planning, and that persnickety term reliability all come into play.
My choice of the word silliness is inadequate. In keeping with the publishing standard that replaced education with indoctrination and alarmism I should use the politically incorrect word: Stupidity.