By Mathew Maavak

In a June 10 Tweet, Elon Musk, the embodiment of the electric vehicle (EV) revolution, declared that "ESG is the devil".

ESG stands for the "environmental, social and governance" principles which dictate that certain aspects of a company's work must be taken into account when deciding whether to invest in it. An investment-worthy company must have a good score on things like climate change, sustainability, energy efficiency, diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as corruption and bribery prevention, among others.

Musk's outburst was sparked by the shockingly low ESG scores assigned to Tesla by S&P Global, a ratings and market intelligence heavyweight. Tesla earned 37 points (out of a possible 100, where anything above 70 is considered "good" and anything below 50 is deemed "poor") on its ESG scorecard while Philip Morris, the global tobacco giant, received a commendable score of 84. Similarly, as the Washington Free Beacon discovered, the London Stock Exchange gave British American Tobacco a score of 94.