Republicans see ‘victory’ in court putting SEC’s climate-disclosure rules on ice

House Republicans scored a victory Monday after a federal appeals court suspended a new Securities and Exchange Commission rule requiring public companies to disclose climate change risks.

The rules have been heavily criticized by Republicans who say the agency is overstepping its authority and are the subject of a series of lawsuits. Republican members of the House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee celebrated Friday’s decision by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals following a lawsuit from an oilfield services company.

Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) said the move “suggests that the SEC’s authority to develop, finalize, and enforce climate disclosure rules is at risk.” said.

Vice Chairman John Rhodes (R-Tenn.) vowed that Republicans “will continue to speak out and stand up against this regulatory regime until it is completely abolished.”

“Today, I can confidently say that we have already secured a victory by forcing the SEC to remove Scope 3 in the proposed rule. But our work is not done yet,” Rose said. said.

The SEC argues that the rule will allow investors to track emissions data that is “very” important to companies’ climate-related risks and financial futures.

Compared to the first version of the 2022 rule, the final version removed language requiring companies to track emissions from all aspects of their supply chain. However, this did not quell Republican opposition.

This month, nearly 20 Republican-led states sued the SEC over climate change regulations, accusing them of imposing unnecessary burdens on companies and forcing them to release information that should be kept confidential.

“[SEC] Chair [Gary] Mr. Gensler and many members of the media would like you to believe that this is a modest compromise rule in line with the SEC’s historic authority, but don’t be fooled,” the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office Strategic Litigation said. Director Whitney Hermandorfer said. Her witness testimony Monday.

Tennessee joined other states in suing the SEC over the Sixth Circuit’s final rule. Hermandorfer said in written testimony that all cases against the finalized rule will be consolidated and handled in a separate U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“Unless he fundamentally changes this approach to capital markets, Gary Gensler’s legacy will be that of an overzealous bureaucrat who has reigned over the courts time and time again,” Huizenga said.

in Recruitment statement Gensler said earlier this month that the measure builds on nearly a century of financial market regulation.

“Our federal securities laws provide basic trading rules. Investors must ensure that as long as companies raising money from the public make what President Franklin Roosevelt called ‘full and truthful disclosure,’ , they can decide which risks to take.”

“Over the past 90 years, the SEC has updated its underlying transaction disclosure requirements from time to time and provided guidance regarding those disclosure requirements as needed.”