Ron DeSantis’s ESG ban is anti-free market

Plus: How to make travel less awful. [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a Fangorn Forest of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - ESG is [capitalism](. - California can [check out of, but never leave](, gasoline. - Liz Truss has a [Boris Johnson-shaped albatross](. - Just how [bad is your airline](? ESG Whiz Many Americans spent their Labor Day holiday doing just what the Founding Fathers would have wanted: [arguing]( on the internet about [hobbits](. The new “Lord of the Rings” TV series has become the latest battleground in the wars over “wokeness,” a term few understand but many are angry about. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis styles himself as America’s foremost Anti-Woke Warrior, but he sometimes aims at more substantial targets than Middle-earth. His latest is what he calls “woke capital,” or investing that cares about environmental, social and governance factors. He wants to make it illegal for Florida pension-fund managers to even think about ESG. Other red states already have similar prohibitions on the books. But this makes them [not anti-woke but anti-capitalist](, writes Bloomberg LP founder Mike Bloomberg. As you might have observed by leaving the house in recent years, the environment is no longer something mythical and intangible like Fangorn Forest but an active and significant financial risk companies and investors must manage. Frustrating that prevents them from turning a profit, as much as it prevents the rest of us from using financial pressure to fight global warming.  Even more directly, keeping pensioners and other people out of ESG funds [could simply cost them money](, writes Matthew Winkler, by depriving them of superior investment returns: We can roll our eyes when wokeness-war casualties involve dragons and elves. But attacking ESG merely for virtue-signaling purposes could cause real-world damage. No One Rides for Free That is not to say efforts to avert environmental disaster are cost-free. California aims to end sales of gas-powered cars by 2035. This in theory should lead to a dramatic reduction in carbon emissions. But as Liam Denning notes, many [gas-powered cars will still be on the road]( for years after that, only without the gasoline-refining capacity to serve them smoothly and/or cheaply. Germany recently [subsidized public transportation]( to help people deal with high energy prices. This would also seem like it could work to keep people from burning gas in cars. But Andreas Kluth writes it is - expensive; - requires healthier public-transit infrastructure to handle demand; and - means punishing people who still want to drive.  Otherwise, no notes! Similarly, [Europe plans to give people money]( to get them through a potential energy crisis this winter. But Javier Blas warns it will also have to clamp down on consumption, or end up with even worse supply problems in the future. Bonus Unintended-Consequences Reading: A California bill to let [bureaucrats set fast-food wages]( is a terrible idea. — Bloomberg’s editorial board Truss and Bother The UK has a new prime minister, Liz Truss, who will always be looking over her shoulder at the old one. Not only does she have to deal with the mess Boris Johnson left behind, Therese Raphael writes, but she must also constantly [worry about Johnson undermining her]( to set the stage for a comeback. He seems to think he is owed one, and he has the rank-and-file support to make his ambitions just non-delusional enough to be dangerous. The Tories are starting to look a bit like America’s Republicans: increasingly tied to a charismatic ex-leader [driving them to distraction and potential defeat](, Bloomberg Opinion writers say in a Twitter Spaces conversation. Further UK Newslettering: Get the latest on UK politics in your inbox with [The Readout]( from Allegra Stratton. Bonus Former-Guy Reading: Israelis these days [fear the corrosive influence of Benjamin Netanyahu]( more than Iran. — Zev Chafets Telltale Charts Greater transparency on service could be a better way to [force airlines to make travel less awful]( without inflicting fines and other costs they would simply pass on to you, the consumer, writes Thomas Black. For instance, did you know JetBlue is really bad at making the planes fly on time? The world is turning again to nuclear power, but David Fickling writes that leaves us [dependent on uranium supplies]( — which, it will not shock you to learn, are not so easy to find these days. Further Reading A judge appointed by Donald Trump [just flouted case law]( to, get this, help Donald Trump. — Noah Feldman The [Trump SPAC doesn’t seem to have the votes]( to get its deal done. — Matt Levine A strong dollar is [good for inflation but bad]( for the global economy. — Mohamed El-Erian Bankers just have to [get used to complex regulations]( as a way of life. — Paul Davies NASA’s [Artemis moonshot is an expensive failure](. Private companies are doing space far better and cheaper. — Adam Minter The future of personal computing is a [contact lens that augments reality](. — Parmy Olson Women, new employees and people of color [can’t afford to do the bare minimum]( at work. — Kami Rieck ICYMI The [Russian economy is in worse shape]( than expected. Elizabeth Holmes [asked for a new trial](. Wall Street is pushing [employees back to the office](. Kickers The Perseverance rover is [producing oxygen on Mars](. Dogs poop in [alignment with Earth’s magnetic field](. [Area seal chases ball]( with area dog. [Killing invasive species]( is America’s true fifth sport. Notes:  Please send invasive species and feedback to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. 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