Yesterday, SEC Commission Caroline Crenshaw issued a harsh rebuke of action taken by her fellow Commissioners in a status update in the ongoing litigation concerning the Climate-Related Disclosure Rules:
“The Court [the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit] ‘directed’ the Commission to advise whether it ‘intends to review or reconsider the [R]ules at issue in this case.’ And, if the Commission has determined to take no action, the Court ordered the Commission to explain whether it ‘will adhere to the [R]ules if the petitions for review are denied and, if not, why it will not review or reconsider the [R]ules at this time.’…
The Commission’s Status Report, filed today, states plainly enough that it has no intention of revisiting the Rules at this time…
The Court asked us in no uncertain terms ‘will [the Commission] adhere to the [R]ules if the petitions for review are denied[?]’ We did not – but should have – answered that question. The unspoken truth under this Commission is that the answer is ‘no.’ Three of the four current Commissioners have been vocal critics of the Rules. They have also withdrawn the Commission from the defense of the Rules in litigation. The Commission simply does not want to say what we all know to be true by now – it has no intention of allowing the Climate-Related Disclosure Rules to go into effect.
… the Administrative Procedure Act governs the process by which we make and repeal rules. It includes a prescriptive framework for promulgation and rescission. If this Commission wants to rescind, repeal or modify the Rules, which were promulgated by-the-book, then it must do the statutorily-required work. It cannot take the easy way out. It must engage in notice-and-comment rulemaking, with the benefit of economic analysis and a public, transparent process, even if inconvenient or if the Commission has other, more pressing priorities. Indeed, other Commissioners have acknowledged that doing the work required to rescind the rule would be a difficult lift. So, instead, we once again ask the Court to do the work for us.”
As Commissioner Crenshaw indicates, there is a better chance of me eating kale voluntarily than there is the climate rule moving forward. But she is correct that for the rule to be officially eliminated, proper administrative procedures must be followed. We’ll see what happens next.
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