Business groups are accelerating opposition to California’s first-in-the-nation climate disclosure laws, pressing the Supreme Court to step in and block the new requirements from taking effect next year.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, joined by the American Farm Bureau Federation and other groups, last week filed an emergency application, asking the high court to prohibit enforcement of two Golden State laws that will require companies with revenues of more than $500 million to report carbon emissions and climate risks as soon as January.
“Without this court’s immediate intervention, California’s unconstitutional efforts to slant public debate through compelled speech will take effect and inflict irreparable harm on thousands of companies across the country,” the emergency application says.
The groups claim that the laws violate the First Amendment by forcing large businesses operating in the state to speak about climate change, even if they would prefer not to.
