Goldman Sachs to Get Net-Zero Reality Check from Local Pastor

Washington, D.C. – At today’s Goldman Sachs annual shareholder meeting, Pastor Ryan Shaddix will present a shareholder proposal on behalf of the National Center for Public Policy Research’s Free Enterprise Project (FEP), requesting that the company conduct a review to make sure that its net-zero emissions goals are based on fact and evidence rather than partisan, climate-extremist ghost stories.

In its proposal, FEP explains why it’s important for Goldman Sachs to take a closer look at its energy investments, particularly in light of an Energy Policy Research Foundation study that found that oil and gas play irreplaceable roles in modern civilization that are not reproduceable with low-carbon alternatives. The attempt to substitute them with inferior, less efficient energy sources will have enormous micro- and macroeconomic consequences and profound geopolitical implications.

When presenting today’s proposal, Pastor Shaddix — who pastors Calvary Chapel Sevier Valley in Central Utah — will memorably explain how the policies of Goldman Sachs affect Utahans:

Speaking to the reality of these good people of Utah, I want to illustrate in some very simple ways how your decisions will impact day-to-day lives in my county of Sevier. If my gas bill goes up just $100 a month (which it has), that is $1200 a year. That may seem insignificant to some. However, that is roughly the cost of an emergency room visit at my local hospital for someone with insurance!

My wife and I run a small educational non-profit called the Sevier Valley Youth Refuge in her hometown of Richfield, Utah. Last year, in large part due to rising energy costs, we had to leave our building where we held our rec center and afterschool activities. Our gas bills had risen over 30% in years.

Your decisions have the power to impact day-to-day life for our citizens in ways that may force them to choose between emergency medical care and keeping the heat going. Not to mention the literal thousands of people who will be put out of work if the coal mines and oil fields simply stop shoveling and drilling for safe, reliable carbon energy. These highly skilled workers, the logistics and support staff, and thousands of others who provide powerfully for their families and communities rely on carbon energy to not just fuel their lives, but their literal livelihoods.

Imagine if Goldman Sachs focused its capital and ingenuity of investment into the lives of these everyday Americans across our national landscape. They would fuel innovation that would both secure our future, anchor our present, and reinforce our national security.

It’s time for Goldman now to do what it’s always had a legal duty to do: transparently, objectively and neutrally consider all relevant factors to determine whether the net-zero transition is even possible, and if so at what cost, to whom, for what possible climate result. The costs (for us non-billionaires, anyway) are all too real.

Goldman Sachs’ annual shareholder meeting will be held in person in Salt Lake City, UT on Wednesday, April 24 at 8:30 AM Mountain time / 10:30 AM Eastern time. An audio webcast will be available at https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1658700&tp_key=441aa8f302. FEP’s proposal at this meeting is Item 10.

More information about this proposal, as well as other key votes, can be found in FEP’s mobile and web app, ProxyNavigator.