On Monday, the 8th Court of Appeals ruled that Democratic 19 states’ attorneys generals can defend the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission’s (S.E.C.) new climate risk disclosure rule from legal attacks against Republican attorneys general and industry groups.
From Reuters’ reporting on the ruling: “A U.S. appeals court on Monday ruled that 19 Democratic attorneys general can defend a new Biden administration rule that would require public companies to report climate-related risks against legal challenges by Republican-led states and industry groups. The St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the group, led by the attorneys general for Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, to intervene in consolidated litigation that seeks to block the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s March regulations.”
Recent polling shows there is strong public support for the S.E.C.’s climate risk disclosure rule, and that people hold companies accountable for their environmental impacts. However, the rule has fallen under attack from self-serving politicians looking to protect the bottom line of companies in polluting industries.
The article continues, “The first-of-its-kind rule aims to standardize public company disclosures about greenhouse gas emissions, weather-related risks and how they are preparing for the transition to a low-carbon economy…The Democratic attorneys general said in a brief filed April 3 that they have significant interests in defending the SEC’s rule because the disclosures will give their states better information as they manage over a combined quarter of a trillion dollars in public funds, including pensions. They said the SEC may have a similar position in the litigation but cannot adequately represent their interests in court, since they have a direct financial interest in the outcome and the SEC does not.”
Read the whole article here. For more information on public support for the S.E.C. climate risk disclosure rule, click here.
