(National Legal and Policy Center)—Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) notified the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit that it will not defend its controversial climate disclosure rule, thus handing a victory to the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), which was a plaintiff in a legal challenge to the rule.
Prior to filing suit on March 21, 2024, NLPC filed a detailed public comment requesting that the rule be withdrawn. Click here to read the June 17, 2022 public comment.
According to NLPC Counsel Paul Kamenar, “As we argued in our comments with Biden’s SEC headed by activist Gary Gensler in 2022, the climate rule was unnecessary and unworkable, relied on questionable science, duplicated EPA requirements, did not protect investors’ interests, and was certain to harm businesses and the American economy.”
NLPC was represented in the litigation by the Liberty Justice Center and the Pelican Institute. Our co-plaintiff was the Oil and Gas Workers Association.
“These illegal rules never should have been adopted. They’re about forcing companies to support an ideological agenda, not regulating securities and protecting investors,” said Jacob Huebert, President of the Liberty Justice Center. “The SEC is right to drop its defense of these indefensible rules.”
“The SEC tried to force companies to speak in ways that aligned with the government’s ideological agenda, not their business mission. That’s not just bad policy – it’s unconstitutional,” said Sarah Harbison, General Counsel with the Pelican Institute. “We’re proud to have stood up for the First Amendment.”
The defeat of the Biden administration climate rule came only after a long struggle by NLPC and many other individuals and institutions. The SEC’s draft rule was first proposed in March 2022, only to be watered down as opposition grew. The final rule was enacted on March 21, 2024, but the tide had already turned against ESG. The rule was finally doomed by the election of Donald Trump, whose appointees now comprise a majority on the SEC.