Eighty House Democrats signed a Monday letter addressed to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler urging him to quickly finalize a strict set of climate-related disclosure requirements for public companies.
The letter called on Gensler to finalize a mandate for companies to disclose their “climate-related risks,” which is one facet of a proposed SEC disclosure rule that would also require corporations to disclose how they are assessing such risks and report greenhouse gas emissions as a proxy for climate risk. Prominent House Democrats who signed the letter include Reps. Jamaal Bowman and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, as well as California Reps. Eric Swalwell, Judy Chu and Adam Schiff.
“We commend you for starting this process and we urge you to quickly finalize a strong and durable rule,” the letter’s authors wrote to Gensler. “You have drafted a well-reasoned proposal that is grounded in financial materiality, aligns with the demands of investors and market participants, and is clearly within the SEC’s mission, authorities, long-standing norms and responsibilities.” (RELATED: Dem Rep Calls Republicans Anti-Capitalist Trotskyites For Opposing Woke Investing Mandates)
🚨EXCLUSIVE🚨
Republican lawmakers introduce a bill preventing the SEC from implementing a rule that would force businesses to publicly disclose a wide range of climate-related information
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The group of House Democrats authored the letter after Republicans have scrutinized the insertion of politicized climate concern and business operations. The letter’s authors wrote that they “are not naive to the environment” surrounding the government-led insertion of climate change policy into business, adding that such a mixture “should not be controversial” while likening its detractors to “opponents of climate action and U.S. leadership.”
The SEC reviews all comments submitted in response to proposed rulemakings, regardless of who provides them, generally responding to comments received as part of the final rulemaking and not beforehand, a spokesperson for the SEC told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Numerous Republican governors have pushed to excise Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing policies and mandates from their states. Congressional Republicans have also targeted ESG policies and mandates, blasting ESG as a “scam” that unduly injects political concerns into business operations to the detriment of shareholders.
The letter also referenced a similar forthcoming disclosure rule from the European Union, pointing out that many American companies with a European presence will be required to comply with that directive. “Finalizing a strong ruling will allow the SEC to align its requirements with those of other financial regulators around the world,” the letter reads.
The offices of Bowman, Ocasio-Cortez, Swalwell, Chu and Schiff did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
This article has been updated with comment from the SEC.
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