Demise of ESG: How Frontieras is Leading the Energy Revolution
February 25th, 2025
Written by Matt McKean, CEO and co-founder of Frontieras North America (LinkedIn)
Acronyms have become ingrained in our everyday language. The rise and fall of terms like DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and its corporate equivalent, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), have led corporations to cater to the demands of a woke society rather than prioritizing efficiency, profitability, and the broader interests of the economy and consumers.
Shouting from the mountaintop for all to hear—the ESG movement is dead. The continued failure of ESG’s promises, low returns and President Trump’s reelection have all but placed a final nail in the ESG coffin. Fossil fuels' continued and elevated role in meeting the rising global energy demand has been solidified by these factors.
At this point, the specific steps President Trump will take are not clear; however, it is safe to assume that government subsidies for green initiatives will be severely curtailed or stopped all together. Recognizing this inevitable fact, in combination with the waning interest of investors, the financial markets have recognized that ESG-initiatives are neither financially sustainable nor practical in today’s energy-hungry world. Energy is at the heart of economic growth, innovation (AI, robotics and medical advancements), as well as the transportation and communications markets.
A recent Bloomberg ESG Investing newsletter article entitled "Sustainable Investors Pull Away from Climate Talk” dissected how various institutional and investment groups are at the forefront of this market shift. Many of the leading investment groups are wiping their hands of ESG messaging – one only must visit their websites to see that they have gone from touting “fossil-fuel free” funds to a pro fossil- fuel messaging of “powering innovation and driving the reindustrialization of the United States.”
As the CEO of Frontieras, I have the benefit of working within the energy market. I have witnessed firsthand how ESG has fallen short, relied on government subsidies and created market conditions that I forecasted would be the complete dismantling of the ESG movement. Within this blog series over the past four years, I have detailed how ESG was not sustainable, how energy demands would outpace supply and how America’s adoption of ESG was setting the country up for failure. Each of these predictions occurred while many of our rival countries have grown strong by investing heavily in fossil fuels to become energy independent.
The Frontieras North America management team and I recognized that the ESG movement was not sustainable and that investment groups were using it to differentiate their offerings, and political parties were using it to gather votes. However, what is being missed by mainstream media and outsiders of the energy market is the real impact of the United States’ ESG folly. The continued investment in ESG hindered important funding for research and development within the energy sector, stopped exploration of new energy sources, caused thousands of individuals to be displaced and entire towns to become ghost towns as coal-related facilities faced mandatory shutdowns and abandonment. On the political front, we watched as subsidies were taken away from companies that were agents of change and legislation changed to favor startups with untested technology that continue to fail and shutter operations. I began referring to the ESG movement as green thieves for not only the hundreds of billions of dollars that they cost the taxpayers, but for time that it has set the U.S. back in the energy sector.
Frontieras is focused on new technology that will deliver available, abundant and affordable energy. Frontieras North America’s FASForm plant is a powerful innovation option that is driving the reindustrialization of the United States. Frontieras’ patented technology transforms coal and other hydrocarbons into a thermal fuel that burns as clean as natural gas, while extracting valuable by-products like hydrogen, diesel, jet fuel, fertilizer, industrial chemicals, and more.
Market Potential: The annual global market for energy and chemicals exceeds USD 2.1 trillion, encompassing sectors like diesel, hydrogen, jet fuel, and more.
Expansion Plan: Frontieras North America is set to build a state-of-the-art facility in Mason County, West Virginia, with an investment of USD 850 million. This facility will create 200 full-time jobs and 2,000 construction jobs, boosting the local economy.
Proven Track Record: With over USD 7 million raised from investors to date, Frontieras is already demonstrating strong investor confidence.
Armed with a clear vision, solid management team and patented process, Frontieras continues to engage with many of the world’s largest institutions to bring its patented-technology to market. Having started the process in earnest with the investment community during the second half of 2023, our mission was to educate them on Frontieras FASForm’s innovation, the yields that it generates across multiple energy sectors while clarifying the market opportunity. In the beginning, many meetings were met with trepidation not because the value proposition was lost on the firms, but because it did not fit within the confines of the ESG construct that their organizations created. Many of the groups, created to build profit for their investors, were not allowed to invest in anything coal related. In fact, Managing Directors told us on multiple occasions how frustrating it was they were not even allowed to entertain our technology because of these ESG mandates. Jump forward 12 months and we have seen a dramatic increase in the response. Frontieras continues to engage with many of the largest investment groups to advance the company forward to meet the energy needs of its customers.
In September 2024, Frontieras kicked off a retail direct public offering in conjunction with our institutional efforts. Frontieras’ retail direct public offering has been very well received to date, and we are looking to deploy the funds to advance the construction process of Frontieras’ first plant in West Virginia. More recently (on December 3rd), Frontieras secured a $150M equity investment commitment from GEM Global Yield LLC SCS (“GEM“) in the form of a Share Subscription Facility (SSF). To invest, visit https://invest.frontieras.com/.
Frontieras’ methodical approach and commitment to its vision to deliver reliable energy to the masses has allowed it to stay the course and take advantage of ESG’s demise. At Frontieras, we strongly believe coal remains a vital source of energy for millions of people around the world, providing affordable and reliable electricity that fuels economic growth and lifts communities out of poverty.
Frontieras’ solutions illustrate how technology, science, and business work together to create efficiencies in a mature market. The Frontieras FASForm plant’s zero waste approach repurposes the captured volatiles, lowers the carbon footprint, and reduces CO2 emissions. In addition to the environmental benefits, this allows the production of FASCarbon to help comply to changing regulatory demands and create more efficient fuels.
These perspectives on the global energy market are my own. If you are interested in learning more about Frontieras, its FASForm technology, or the Frontieras management team, please visit www.frontieras.com.
