The Securities and Exchange Commission, a government agency created in the aftermath of 1929’s stock market crash to protect investors and maintain fair marketplaces, may soon be a key player in President Biden’s climate agenda.
Unelected Democratic bureaucrats serving as the agency’s commissioners voted in favor of imposing without authorization from Congress, by a vote of 3-to-1 New, sweeping rulesAll publicly traded companies must disclose how their business impacts “climate change”.
According to a Press releaseThe SEC has issued proposed rules that would require businesses and individuals to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions. All and everythingInformation about “climate-related risk that is reasonably likely to have an impact on their business or results of operations or financial condition.”
In a lengthy Statement of disapprovalHester Peirce (the SEC’s sole Republican commissioner), joked that the agency had effectively re-invented its self as the “Securities and Environment Commission” and without any input from the American people.
Peirce asserted that the new rules would hamstring businesses with excessive and burdensome regulations that will eventually harm investors and the economic economy. Peirce also stated that the SEC does not have the authority to enact such regulations, as Congress never gave it such broad power.
She wrote, “Congress gave me an important mission protecting investors and facilitating capital formation and fostering fair and orderly markets and granted us sufficient regulatory power to achieve that mission.” “This proposal exceeds our statutory limits by using disclosure framework to achieve goals that are not ours.”
Despite the apparent overreach of the Democrats in Washington, they seem happy to support the move because the rules align with their aggressive approach towards the climate. Many others may also see the pressure on corporations as a way to achieve their goals.
The new rules are designed to expose companies’ records in line with the progressives’ climate change agenda in the hope that investors will press the companies to adopt more environmentally-friendly policies and practices.
“It will allow all interested stakeholders, shareholders included, to then push corporations to take real action,” Bill Weihl (previously of Google and Facebook), a climate activist. The New York Times.
CNBC InterviewClaire Healy, Washington-based director of the climate change think tank, celebrated the possibility that companies that are carbon-intensive may “lose out overtime” as pressure mounts. Investors are encouraged to sell off.
Conservatives, however have raised concerns about the proposed rules, pointing out among other things that they would come with a high cost. Third-party regulators would be needed to collect all the data required by the new rules.
Steve Milloy, political commentator and author of the op-ed, stated that a company cannot simply tell in free form how it believes climate regulations or bad weather might affect its business. Washington Examiner. “Companies will instead be required to have independent certified audits, think climate accountants attest to their veracity in the new corporate disclosures.”
Daniel Horowitz, TheBlaze’s CEO, warned that “In general this rule will be just as costly-and-burdensome on all businesses than the impact of Dodd-Frank”
Milloy, on the other hand, seemed confident that if the final rules were adopted, the Supreme Court would immediately invalidate them.