Republicans Double Down on Efforts to Rein In SEC Chair Gensler’s Climate Proposal

Congressional Republicans We are attacking Gary Gensler, Chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission, in a broad-based attack climate disclosure rulesFOX Business learned that this could lead to lawsuits to invalidate the regulations if the agency approves them later in the year. 

These rules would for the first-time require that public companies make detailed and costly disclosures on how their operations affect the environment. Critics claim that the requirements would not be met as they are written because corporate boards would have to address politically difficult and controversial issues like climate change and global warming.

EXCLUSIVE REPUBLICANS INTRODUCE A LEGISLATION TO THWART SEC-RELATED ESG DISCLOSURE DEMANDS

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler testifies before Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee at an oversight hearing held on Capitol Hill, Washington, U.S.A, Sept. 15, 2022.  (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein / Reuters Photos)

FOX Business received a letter from Patrick McHenry, R.N.C. House Financial Services Committee Chairman, and Tim Scott, R.S.C. Senate Banking Committee ranking member, and Bill Huizenga Chairman, House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, asking Gensler for all records and communications related to the rule that date back to Jan. 20, 2020.

The GOP members also want to know whether Gensler and his staff considered the impact of the rule on energy prices. The SEC is also being asked if it considered the First Amendment implications of requesting companies to disclose information not normally disclosed for public companies. 

The trio agreed that the rule as it was written would be applied. “appear to compel speech.”

“We are deeply concerned with the SEC’s lack of transparency and disregard for legitimate congressional oversight inquiries, and call on you to be more responsive to congressional informational requests going forward,” The letter contained the following:

Gensler ignored GOP congressional inquiries about his agenda, which Republicans claim often pushes boundaries of the SEC mandate.

Attack by the GOP It comes amid a larger political debate over the so-called Environmental, Social and Governance Edicts. These edicts are designed to push companies to reduce their carbon footprint and to adopt policies that involve diversity and social concerns. Republicans are launching a major attack on so-called ESG mandates, including criticism of asset managers like BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street who use ESG filters in their investment decisions.

What is ESG? INVESTING WITH ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIAL AND GOVERNANCE in MIND

On the sunset background, silhouette of working oil pumps (iStock / iStock)

According to Republicans, such filters can be used to discourage people from using them. Exploration of oil and other energy resourcesIt is possible to Higher gas prices While promoting a progressive political agenda, it combats inflation and other problems.

“The SEC’s climate proposal is yet another example of the Biden administration’s progressive overreach,” Senator Scott. “Instead of protecting American investors and facilitating capital formation, Chair Gensler is using the SEC as a tool to advance the administration’s partisan agenda and is refusing to answer to Congress and the American people. This must stop. I am proud to work with my colleagues to reign in the SEC.” 

Gensler is an ex-Goldman Sachs banker and academic who came up with the concept of the SEC’s proposed environmental disclosure regulations. Gensler believes investors need to understand how corporate activities impact the environment since change is a major threat to economic growth.

Gensler’s suggestions have been met with suspicion by conservatives as well as companies who adhere to ESG policies. ESG regulations allow you to invest in energy companies. BlackRock is the largest investor in the oil sector.

These SEC rules have such a broad scope that public companies would need to estimate and disclose the impact of their operations on often obscure scientific climate theories. Critics argue that meeting disclosure requirements will be costly. Instead of addressing this burden, banks would be more likely to reduce their lending to energy companies.

BLACKROCK DOES NOT CHANGE ITS STANCE ON ESG INVESTING ABOVE CRITICISM

New York City offices of BlackRock. The company, along with nine others, were named by Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar as being hostile to the state’s fossil fuel sector.  (Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images/Getty Images

BlackRock, for one, has criticized the large amount of information required in a Comment Letter stating that the SEC rule was written “will decrease the effectiveness of the commission’s overarching goal” In providing “reliable climate-related information to investors.”

“Gensler would be well-advised to pull the proposal,” Charles Elson, the founding director of The Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance (University of Delaware), said this. “The SEC was designed to police investment markets and make sure fair financial information is available for investors – when you take that authority and use it for other purposes it is inappropriate and undermines the mission of the agency.”

Elson believes that the regulations, as a result of recent Supreme Court precedents, will be immediately challenged and would like them to be overturned. “It can pass the SEC, but it will be challenged and thrown out if it reaches the Supreme Court,” He said.

Elson stated that the SEC’s mandate as a regulator of investors is not one of environmental protection, but rather as an agency to protect investors. “The argument that climate disclosures protect investors is a real stretch,” He concluded.

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The SEC declined comment but stated on its website that it will vote on climate rules in April. It is anticipated that the proposal will pass by a 3-2 vote with Gensler, the two other Democrats, and Gensler approving it.

Before his retirement last year, Pat Toomey (Republican from Pennsylvania) was a ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee. He had unsuccessfully requested information from Gensler about his climate rule plans. As investigations continue into Gensler’s activities at the SEC, Republicans now control the House majority and have the power to hold hearings.

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