What is ESG? If you’re like most Americans, you don’t really know. Big banks and asset managers have come under fire from the right in recent years for considering “environmental, social and governance” factors in their investment decisions. Yet as Republican attempts to target all things ESG face increasing challenges at the state level, the definition of what actually counts as ESG has become increasingly murky.

At the end of last year, 1,238 funds claiming to “promote” environmental, social and good governance goals held stocks in the industry classification code “Aerospace & Defense,” including weapons manufacturers like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. The Financial Times reported recently that sustainable investment funds in Europe have more than doubled their exposure to defense stocks since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022. “About a third of funds in Europe and the U.K. focused on environmental, social and governance issues now have €7.7bn invested in the sector, compared with €3.2bn in the first quarter of 2022, according to an analysis for the Financial Times by Morningstar Direct,” the FT reports.

Just this week, Politico noted that a hotly anticipated report on EU competitiveness compiled by former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi—expected to be........

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