Washington’s leading business group sued the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday over the agency’s climate risk reporting rule, joining an onslaught of opposition against the new regulation.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a petition in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the rule, which was adopted last week by the SEC. Its passage marked a legacy-defining moment for SEC Chair Gary Gensler — as the regulation will require public companies to start reporting a raft of new climate-related information to investors.
But the rule has elicited widespread criticism. The Chamber described it as “government micromanagement of business” in a statement.
“While we appreciate Chairman Gensler’s constructive engagement with the business community and many of the modifications made by the SEC to the original proposed rule, the final rule makes substantively harmful changes to 50 years of corporate governance precedent that will have implications well beyond this single rule,” said Tom Quaadman, executive vice president for the Chamber’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness.
