NPR.

So last week, the state of Florida said it was taking back $2 billion it had given to

money manager BlackRock to invest in the markets.

The state's top financial officer said it was because it objected to what's called

ESG investing. Those letters stand for environmental, social and governance.

So why is Florida waging war against this ESG thing and how did BlackRock become the

ESG boogie man? And it's not just Florida. Republican leaders across the US are pushing

back against this growing movement that they often call woke investing.

This is the indicator from planet money I'm Whalen Wong and I'm Mary Childs and today

they show ESG sustainable investing. The idea that you can invest your dollars into companies

that are going to help improve the world by mitigating pollution or encouraging responsible

labor practices and make money by doing so.

In the next few episodes, we're going on a tour of the investment industry to find out

if enormous money managers can sell us products that will save the planet and solve inequality.

Or if it's just a craven political marketing scheme to cash and on anxiety.

This message comes from NPR sponsor Fundrise, a platform that makes investing in high

and real estate easy. You tell Fundrise your investing goals and Fundrise puts your money

into the real estate deals that are right for you. Sign up for free at Fundrise.com-slash-indicator.

In 2017, Tarek Fancy hears some of his from a friend of his at BlackRock,

the world's biggest money manager. BlackRock was hiring for a big new job,

global chief investment officer for sustainable investing.

I thought to myself, well wait a second, this is really interesting, right?

...