SEC might back off controversial climate disclosure rule

  • February 24, 2024

 

 

A controversial U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed climate-risk disclosure rule that prompted Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas to file a bill opposing it could now be pared back.

Politico reported the final rule might be released in the coming weeks and with less-comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions disclosure requirements. The original plan was proposed nearly two years ago.

At that time in 2022, Oklahoma Rep. Frank Lucas introduced the Protest Farmers from the SEC Act to make sure farmers didn’t fall under the rule, calling the SEC proposal another example of “an encroaching and overreaching Biden administration.”

“America’s farmers and ranchers work day in and day out only to struggle with supply chain disruptions, skyrocketing input costs, and burdensome regulations imposed by the irresponsible, nonsensical actions of the Biden Administration,” said Rep. Lucas in introducing his act in 2022. The measure didn’t pass and he reintroduced it a year later.
The SEC’s proposal ignited a furious backlash from lobbists and GOP lawmakers. If indeed the SEC’s final rule is not so restrictive, it would be considered a major victory for the American Farm Bureau Federation, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other groups that questioned the legality of the rule.

Politico reported that the SEC, in its latest draft, dropped a mandate for certain large companies to report to investors information about the emissions generated by their suppliers and customers.

Click here for Politico

Jerry Bohnen