Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has joined colleagues from 15 states to write a letter to the head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to oppose a plan by the Biden administration to require publicly traded companies to disclose information about climate change.
The attorneys general told SEC Chair Gary Gensler that compelling the disclosures should not be pursued, especially since companies are using other methods to answer investor questions on climate change.
The officials urged the SEC to focus on its mission and not look to encroach into other topics.
“The Commission has an important and difficult mandate with respect to safeguarding public trading, but it is hard to see how it can legally, constitutionally, and reasonably assume a leading role when it comes to climate change,” the attorneys general wrote.
The letter was in response to a March 15 public solicitation issued by then-Acting Chair Herren Lee. In a statement at that time, Lee said questions have been raised whether corporate disclosures provide sufficient information for investors and others regarding climate change disclosures.
“The 2010 Climate Change Guidance noted that, depending on the circumstances, information about climate change-related risks and opportunities might be required in a registrant’s disclosures related to its description of business, legal proceedings, risk factors, and management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations,” Lee said in a statement. “The release outlined certain ways in which climate change may trigger disclosure obligations under the SEC’s rules.”
The SEC wanted input within 90 days.
Cameron said in a statement what the SEC was trying to do represents a “classic example” of government agencies exceeding their authority.
“Requiring publicly traded companies to disclose the Biden Administration’s preferred climate change information will put an unnecessary target on the backs of companies,” he said.
The SEC letter comes after Cameron filed an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month, urging the nation’s top justices to side with West Virginia officials in a case against the Environmental Protection Agency.
In that case, Cameron said the EPA was exceeding its authority in looking to put restrictions on West Virginia’s coal industry. If the EPA succeeded, he argued, it would have a devastating effect on Kentucky’s coal energy.
