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McHenry, McMorris Rodgers, 129 House GOP Colleagues Demand SEC Rescind Climate Disclosure Proposal

Washington, Jun 17 -

This week, the top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry (NC-10), and the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05), led a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler regarding the SEC’s proposal to require extensive climate change-related disclosures from public companies.

The letter urges Chair Gensler to rescind the proposal immediately and focus on the SEC’s statutory tripartite mission, rather than a far-left social agenda that is shutting down American energy, raising energy costs on families, and making President Biden’s inflation crisis worse.

Republican Leaders McHenry and McMorris Rodgers were joined by 129 of their House Republican colleagues.

Read the letter to SEC Chair Gensler here or below:

“Dear Chair Gensler,

“We write regarding the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) proposed new rules requiring publicly traded companies to disclose extensive climate-related data and additional ‘climate risks.’ The proposed rules exceed the SEC's statutory authority and fundamentally misappropriate the SEC's rulemaking authority. Congress did not establish the SEC to set climate policy nor to be the final arbiter of businesses' strategies to combat climate change, which is what these rules will do. We call on the SEC to rescind the proposed rules immediately.

“As you know, the ‘SEC's long-standing tripartite mission to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation’ has been the foundation of its work. Congress passed the Securities and Exchange Acts of 1933 and 1934 ('33 and '34 Acts) to implement a disclosure-based regime that facilitates – not participates or dictates outcomes – in the investment decision-making process. Over the last 80 plus years, the SEC has implemented this statutory directive through a principle-based approach to rulemaking. This approach relies on companies to determine what is material to investors, not the SEC.

“This principles-based disclosure regime enables companies to choose how best to comply and thrive under those polices. Investors decide whether they want to back those strategies. The proposed climate rules shift the SEC' s rulemaking authority, taking a novel, activist approach to climate policy. This far exceeds the SEC's authority, jurisdiction, and expertise. As a result, it will deservedly draw legal challenges. It also puts our time-tested approach to capital allocation, as well as the agency's independence and credibility, at risk.

“We call on you to rescind these proposed climate rules and to respect the statutory limitations Congress placed on the SEC in the '33 and '34 Acts. It is Congress' job to set our environmental policy, not the job of unelected regulators. The SEC should focus on its core mission-protecting investors; maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitating capital formation rather than a far-left social agenda.”

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