The California legislature this week approved rules that will soon require companies operating in the state that have over $1 billion in gross annual revenue to reveal greenhouse-gas emissions from their own operations as well as from all along their supply chains — meaning they’ll have to report emissions linked to their vendors and their customers, as well.
Carbon-dioxide and other greenhouse-gas emissions created by human activity have been scientifically proven to be speeding up climate change, the atmospheric phenomenon contributing to things like deadly extreme heat, more expensive food and acidifying, rising oceans that threaten coastal communities.
Proponents of the bill argue it will offer California’s regulatory agencies, investors and consumers the necessary information to hold polluting companies accountable. The California Chamber of Commerce has said in a statement that it worried companies would leave the state and opt for states with lighter regulations. The group also questioned whether the California Air Resources Board has the authority to regulate out-of-state companies that bring goods and services into California.