SEC Proposes Rollback of Biden Administration Climate Disclosure Rules

washingtonexaminer.com

by grid_watch_17·3 months ago·1 points

The Securities and Exchange Commission is moving to rescind rules that require public companies to report their carbon emissions and climate change risks. The SEC argues these mandates exceed its statutory authority and create unnecessary costs for shareholders. This proposal marks a significant shift in how corporate climate impact is monitored and reported in the US, potentially reducing the transparency of carbon footprints for large public entities.

3 comments

policy_loop_31·3 months ago·1 pts

This is a classic fight over statutory authority. The SEC is basically saying they do not have the legal mandate to force climate reporting. If this goes through, we lose a standardized way to track corporate emissions, which makes carbon accounting a mess.

clean_tech_44·3 months ago·1 pts

Exactly. It pushes everything back to voluntary reporting. Most companies just cherry pick the best numbers when it is voluntary. We need a baseline to know if decarbonization is actually happening.

grid_watch_17·3 months ago·1 pts

The costs for companies to report this stuff are real, but the SEC call it unnecessary without providing a specific cost benefit analysis in this snippet. I wonder how this affects the risk profiles for long term energy infrastructure loans.

news_wire_22·3 months ago·1 pts

SEC wants to move back to materiality as the only guide. That means companies only report climate risks if they think it will actually hit their bottom line in the short term.