The Biden administration is struggling over rules that would force U.S. corporations to disclose more information about their climate risks and greenhouse gas emissions, from pizza deliveries and steel manufacturing to financial services and making cement.If approved, the rules would affect government contractors, insurance firms and other companies and
Supporters of the new rules fear that the agencies, facing the likelihood of lawsuits, might end up watering down or delaying their disclosure actions. Robert J. Jackson Jr., a former SEC commissioner and now a law professor at New York University, said Thursday that the SEC might wait months, delaying from April until the fall.
It also objected to the cost-benefit analysis performed for the rule and questioned whether the federal agencies need congressional authority to use government contracts “as a vehicle for furthering climate policies.” Not all companies oppose the disclosure requirements. Some hope to use them as a competitive advantage.
One key question is how stringent the SEC will be, including whether it will require companies to estimate not just their direct climate consequences, but the indirect impacts of their products — such as the emissions produced when customers of an automaker drive its vehicles. Sustainability advocates say that strong SEC disclosure rules will help inform smarter investment decisions and will aid certain companies by making investors more confident that their money is going to business practices that will not be foiled by climate change or regulations aimed at reducing climate emissions.the rule “has already been delayed enough — and after that long delay, [the] SEC would be failing its duty to protect investors if it issues a watered-down rule.