Casten, Vargas, Castor Lead 77 House Democrats to Urge SEC to Finalize Strong and Durable Climate Rule
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06), Congressman Juan Vargas (CA-52), and Congresswoman Kathy Castor (FL-14) lead 77 of their colleagues in a letter to SEC Chair Gary Gensler urging the SEC to quickly finalize a strong and durable climate disclosure rule.
“Enhanced climate-related disclosure is the direction of travel for capital markets around the world,” the lawmakers wrote in part. “You have drafted a well-reasoned proposal that is grounded in financial materiality, aligns with the demands of investors and market participants, and is clearly within the SEC’s mission, authorities, long-standing norms, and responsibilities. We urge you to finalize and adopt a credible mandatory disclosure rule as quickly as possible.”
On March 21, the SEC released their long-await proposed rulemaking to require public companies to disclose climate-related information in their SEC filings. If finalized, this would mark the first time public companies are required to report their greenhouse gas emissions, along with details of how climate change impacts their business.
In June of 2022, more than 130 Democrats signed a comment letter, led by Rep. Casten and Rep. Castor, in support of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed rule on enhanced climate disclosures that would require public companies to disclose climate-related information in their SEC filings.
In addition to Reps. Casten, Castor, and Vargas, the letter was signed by Reps. Alma Adams; Becca Balint; Nanette Barragán; Joyce Beatty; Earl Blumenauer; Suzanne Bonamici; Jamal Bowman; Julia Brownley; Salud Carbajal; Tony Cárdenas; Andre Carson; Troy Carter; Sean Casten; Kathy Castor; Judy Chu; Yvette Clarke; Emanuel Cleaver; Steve Cohen; Jasmine Crockett; Jason Crow; Danny Davis; Diana DeGette; Mark DeSaulnier; Veronica Escobar; Adriano Espaillat; Dwight Evans; Bill Foster; John Garamendi; Jesús García; Al Green; Raúl Grijalva; Val Hoyle; Jared Huffman; Jonathan Jackson; Sara Jacobs; Henry Johnson; Ro Khanna; Raja Krishnamoorthi; Barbara Lee; Mike Levin; Ted Lieu; Stephen Lynch; Seth Magaziner; Doris Matsui; Jennifer McClellan; Betty McCollum; James McGovern; Kevin Mullin; Jerrold Nadler; Eleanor Norton; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; Ilhan Omar; Donald Payne; Brittany Pettersen; Mark Pocan; Katie Porter; Ayanna Pressley; Mike Quigley; Jamie Raskin; Deborah Ross; Linda Sánchez; John Sarbanes; Janice Schakowsky; Adam Schiff; Brad Sherman; Adam Smith; Darren Soto; Melanie Stansbury; Haley Stevens; Eric Swalwell; Mark Takano; Paul Tonko; Ritchie Torres; Lori Trahan; David Trone; Lauren Underwood; Nydia Velázquez; Nikema Williams; and Frederica Wilson.
You can find the letter HERE.