SEC Climate Rules Face Growing Legal Threat From Green Groups
The unholy Green alliance spends billions and billions on their degrowth and deindustrial tropes, but as Meredith Angwin put it, “the facts are intruding on the Green narrative.”
The SEC's revised draft climate disclosure rules go before the SEC for a vote March 6. Photo Illustration: Jonathan Hurtarte/Bloomberg Tax; Photos: Getty Images
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March 1, 2024, 4:00 AM CST
SEC Climate Rules Face Growing Legal Threat From Green Groups
Andrew Ramonas
Senior Reporter
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Sierra Club, Earthjustice raise legal concerns over rules
Lack of supply chain reporting mandate draws ire
The SEC’s decision to water down climate disclosure rules set for approval next week will reduce the risk of lawsuits from business interests but put the regulations under increasing legal peril from environmentalists.
The revised draft of the regulations, which will go before the Securities and Exchange Commission for a vote March 6, no longer requires companies to disclose greenhouse gas emissions from indirect sources such as suppliers and consumers—known as Scope 3 emissions—Bloomberg Law reported last week. Plans to require these emissions disclosures had drawn warnings of litigation from the business community, agricultural interests and Republican state attorneys general since the SEC released its proposal in 2022.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler has kept the contents of the final rules closely guarded, but has signaled he would like to limit litigation against regulations that are poised to be a hallmark of his tenure. That may prove a difficult task.
Final rules without Scope 3 disclosures would represent a major win for companies, but a significant loss for environmentalists. The Sierra Club and Earthjustice have been strongly considering suing the SEC, amid growing expectations the agency would water down its proposed requirements.
“We certainly are disappointed about what appears to not be in the rule,” Hana Vizcarra, an Earthjustice senior attorney, told Bloomberg Law Thursday. “Sierra Club, alongside Earthjustice, are considering our legal options.”
An SEC spokesperson declined to comment.