Washington – This week, Congress hit its deadline to overturn the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) climate risk disclosure rule, which requires publicly traded companies to disclose information about greenhouse gas emissions. Efforts to overturn the rule have flagrantly disregarded the demands of the American public, as voters overwhelmingly and across party lines support the SEC’s rule.
Since the SEC issued its final ruling earlier this year, members of the House and Senate who are in the pockets of the oil and gas industry have yielded their political power in an attempt to overturn the rule through the Congressional Review Act (CRA).
The CRA is a legislative tool used by Congress to overturn federal agency actions. The vote, which is required in both chambers, must take place within 60 legislative days from when the initial resolution was submitted to Congress in order to take advantage of Senate rules to avoid a filibuster and allow for a majority vote. This week, that deadline has come and gone.
“It’s no surprise that Congress has backed off efforts to kill the SEC’s climate risk disclosure when two thirds of Americans support this added transparency,”said Kyle Herrig, spokesperson for Unlocking America’s Future. “The SEC’s rule is an important step forward in standardizing climate risk reporting, which many companies are already voluntarily doing. This rule helps maintain the United States’ competitiveness on the global stage as our international peers are well underway with similar reporting requirements. Investors and the American people continue to demand climate disclosures and responsible investing.”
Members of the House Financial Services Committee who were working to overturn the rule have taken over $5 million in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry.
Recent polling on responsible investing reveals how efforts to overturn the rule continue to be unpopular among American voters:
- Two-thirds of voters (80% of Democrats, 65% of Independents, and 55% of Republicans) support the proposed SEC rule, and a majority of Americans support responsible investing.
- More than half of voters, including 52% of Republicans and 63% of Independents, oppose Congress putting limits on these kinds of disclosures.
- A majority of voters agree that financial managers should be allowed to consider environmental factors when making investing decisions.
- 71% of voters — including 85% of Democrats and 60% of Republicans — believe publicly traded companies should have to disclose climate-related risks.
While members of Congress have backed off of anti-ESG efforts, the fate of the rule continues to hang in the balance due to pending litigation in the U.S. Court of Appeals.
