As long-term investors, we view immigration as a powerful driver of economic innovation and long-term value creation. Despite escalating anti-immigrant sentiment and increased enforcement activities, immigrants—documented and undocumented alike—make substantial contributions to the U.S. tax base, labor force, consumer demand, and entrepreneurship. Immigrants paid $652 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2023¹, equivalent to 2.3% of U.S. GDP and more than the entire economies of countries like Belgium or Argentina. This capital is vital for public infrastructure, schools, healthcare, and retirement systems. Notably, undocumented immigrants pay a higher average effective tax rate than the top 1% of households.²
How We Are Responding to the Climate Crisis
The most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report concluded, once again, that unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to close to 1.5°C or even 2°C in the next few decades will be beyond reach. Climate scientists continue to warn that structural changes in our economy are needed to mitigate the greatest harms of climate change. Meaningful policy changes are the most important strategy to address this, but the role of sustainable investing is also key.
Q2 2022 Impact Update
At Zevin Asset Management, we build responsible investment portfolios to satisfy our clients’ goals. We then address risks and create positive social impact by engaging with portfolio companies. This quarter, we wrapped up the 2022 proxy season and continued to build on past engagement successes. As we make progress, we also identify and seek to address emerging challenges. Please see the end of our update for a summary of the proxy season.
Zevin Asset Management’s Testimony to EPA in Support of Clean Truck Rule
On March 28, 2022, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposed rule that would set new, more stringent standards to reduce pollution from heavy-duty vehicles and engines starting in model year (MY) 2027. The proposed standards would significantly reduce emissions of smog- and soot-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx) from heavy-duty gasoline and diesel engines and set more stringent greenhouse gas (GHG) standards for certain commercial vehicle categories.
Zevin Asset Management presented the following testimony in a virtual public hearing at EPA for the proposed rule.