The SEC’s new climate rule draws first lawsuit

Soon after the SEC adopted a final climate rule, the first lawsuit challenging it was filed. Here’s the intro from this “ESG Today” article:

“A coalition of ten Republican states announced the launch of a lawsuit in the U.S. federal appeals court, aimed at blocking the implementation of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) new climate-related disclosure rules. The new suit could mark the first major hurdle for the new rules, only hours after their adoption by the SEC on Wednesday, with U.S. Congressional Republicans and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also voicing opposition to the Commission’s new climate disclosure requirements.

States joining the lawsuit include West Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Alaska, Indiana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Wyoming, and Virginia.

In the suit, the states’ Attorneys General argued that the new rule exceeded the authority of the SEC, describing it as “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not in accordance with law,” and asked the court to strike down the rule as unlawful.

In a statement announcing the launch of the lawsuit, Indiana AG Todd Rokita described the new rule as part of “the Biden administration’s efforts to weaponize the Securities and Exchange Commission,” adding that it “would place onerous requirements on U.S. companies in service to a radical-left climate agenda.”