Washington – Today the House Financial Services Committee held a markup where members debated H.J. Res 127, a new measure that would kill the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) climate risk disclosure rule, and later voted to move the resolution to a vote on the House floor on a 28-22 margin.
In response to the outcome, Unlocking America’s Future spokesperson Kyle Herrig made the following statement.
“The House Financial Services Committee’s decision to move H.J. Res 127 to a vote in the House is disappointing, as it squarely defies the demands of investors and the interests of the American public across partisan lines. The vote outcome did not come as a surprise given that opponents of the SEC’s climate risk disclosure rule doubled down on misinformation during the markup debate and made clear they will continue to ignore broad calls for support. The SEC’s rule is an important step forward in standardizing climate risk reporting, which many companies are already voluntarily doing, and maintaining the United States’ competitiveness on the global stage as our international peers are well underway with similar reporting requirements.”
Highlights from the hearing include:
- Rep. Maxine Waters (CA-43) dubbed the resolution as an effort to “block American investors from knowing key information about the stocks they own,” and reinforced the SEC rule’s role in empowering “companies to make disclosure decisions themselves.”
- Rep. Juan Vargas (CA-52) highlighted the rule’s impact in ensuring “regular people invested in the market can have access to the same information that businesses already are spending roughly $500,000 per year to access.” Rep. Vargas also noted that “the reality is that climate change isn’t just a threat to our planet – it is also a threat to our financial system.”
Lowlights from the hearing include:
- Rep. Bill Huizenga (MI-04) leaned into Big Oil’s talking points about the SEC’s rule and flipped the script, alleging the rule will serve “as a boon for special interest groups and far-left activists.” Rep. Huizenga also claimed he “embraces materiality,” but refused to acknowledge the material risk presented by climate change supported by research.
- Rep. Andy Barr (KY-06) alleged that the rule is too complicated for investors despite the fact that this group has been outspoken in support of the rule, saying the rule will “inundate them with a torrent of nonmaterial information and confusing information.” Rep. Barr also doubled down and said the rule “is not going to protect the planet. It’s going to result in a lot less trees because of all the additional paper that’s going to be required to send to shareholders that they’re going to throw in the trash because they don’t care about this.”
