Jul 14, 2022 - Energy & Climate

SCOTUS ruling fuels red states' challenge over corporate climate risk disclosures

Ben Geman

Illustration of an elephant’s trunk holding a gavel. — Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios

Red state attorneys general say the Supreme Court's recent greenhouse gas ruling ensures they'll challenge Securities and Exchange Commission rules that would compel corporate climate risk disclosures.

Driving the news: The attorney general of West Virginia, joined by 23 others, wrote to the SEC arguing its March proposal contradicts the SCOTUS decision that limited the breadth EPA's regulatory authority over power plants without explicit Capitol Hill authorization.

The big picture: The new letter is an early concrete sign that the high court's ruling on power plants will spur challenges to other climate change regulations.

What they're saying: "If this sort of regulatory overreach does not constitute a sweeping policy judgment on a major question, then we struggle to see what would," the AGs write.

The letter comes as multiple legal experts predict the SEC rule could face challenges under conservative justices' application of the "major questions" doctrine.
The doctrine asserts that in areas of major economic and political significance, agencies require explicit congressional blessing to act.

Go deeper: West Virginia v. EPA: Supreme Court decision will hurt Biden's climate change efforts

Add Axios on Google

SCOTUS ruling fuels red states' challenge over corporate climate risk disclosures

What to read next