Sixteen Republican governors, with Tennessee Governor Bill Lee not among them, sent the Biden administration and the SEC a letter on Tuesday telling them to back off a proposed “climate change” disclosure regulation.
“On March 21, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a rule that would compel publicly traded companies to make detailed disclosures about climate-change risks and greenhouse gas emissions. As governors, we are deeply concerned your proposed rule veers far outside the SEC’s authority as a federal agency,” said the governors in the letter.
“The proposed rule will harm businesses and investors in our states by increasing compliance costs and by larding disclosure statements with uncertain and immaterial information that the federal government—let alone the SEC—is not equipped to judge,” they continue. We strongly urge you to withdraw the proposed rule and allow the market to continue serving as the appropriate mechanism for judging climate risk, as it does for other types of market risks.”
“The unprecedented level of federal overreach makes your proposed rule an especially dangerous step. The SEC’s congressionally directed mission is to protect investors, facilitate capital formation, and maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets,” the letter says in a different section. “The proposed rule degrades and undermines that mission by injecting subjective political judgments on climate policy into corporate disclosures, in a manner calculated to harm the states that provide for America’s energy security.”
“The approach in the proposed rule is especially foolish at a time when the cost of energy, and everything that depends on energy, has skyrocketed. Americans are struggling to pay their bills during the worst inflation in decades, and they expect their federal leaders to do everything possible to bring down prices, not place additional burdens on businesses and increase the uncertainty they face,” added the governors.
“We strongly urge you to withdraw the proposed rule,” concluded the 16 Republicans.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, Idaho Governor Brad Little, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, Missouri Governor Mike Parson, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, and Texas Governor Greg Abbott all signed the letter.
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Previously, The Tennessee Star reported that U.S. Representative John Rose (R-TN-06) is leading the charge in the U.S. House against the proposed regulation.
Rose said in a statement:
The proposed rule on “Enhanced and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors” would require public companies to include climate-related information in their annual reports. This could potentially include disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions, climate-related risks, processes for identifying climate-related risks, and other downstream supply chain information. This poses a significant threat to farms as it could prevent them from being able to sell their products to public companies as most do not have the resources necessary to gather all the information required by the proposed rule.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, and Parler.
Photo “Bill Lee” by Bill Lee.
