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Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission notified a federal court that it will cease defending regulations intended to require public companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and other climate-related information (The Wall Street Journal, subscription). 
 
What’s going on: “Acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda said in a statement Thursday that ‘the goal of today’s Commission action and notification to the court is to cease the Commission’s involvement in the defense of the costly and unnecessarily intrusive climate change disclosure rules.’” 

• In March 2024, the Biden SEC voted in favor of requiring publicly traded companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, as well as other climate-related information. 
• Thanks to extensive NAM advocacy , the final rule excluded the requirement that companies disclose Scope 3 emissions—those that come from companies in a manufacturer’s supply chain. Nevertheless, compliance with the final rule still would have imposed substantial costs on manufacturers.   
• There were numerous legal challenges to the rule, which were consolidated before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. The NAM filed an amicus brief in the consolidated case, raising questions about the SEC’s authority to require climate-related disclosures.  

What it means: “By dropping its defense of the rules, the SEC is effectively walking away from the regulations it had established, despite not actually rescinding the rules.”  
 
The NAM’s view: “Manufacturers welcome [the] decision by the SEC to end its defense of the costly climate disclosure rule,” NAM Managing Vice President of Policy Charles Crain wrote in a social post. “At a time when manufacturers are already facing regulatory costs exceeding $350 billion every year, balanced regulatory policy is vital.”