Biden’s SEC Votes to Impose Punishing and Illegal Climate Regulation

March 22, 2022

President Biden and his administration are using every tool at their disposal to crush traditional American fossil fuel energy and the Americans who work in the industry. Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – a federal financial regulator – voted to advance a new rule that requires public companies to disclose the “climate risks” of their business.

The Wall Street Journal editorial board points out that the rule runs completely contrary to SEC history, the law, and sound regulatory practice. The rule is yet another example of the Biden administration making it harder and harder for energy producers.

The Journal explains the far-reaching impacts of this punishing and completely arbitrary new rule. “Companies will have to report greenhouse-gas emissions generated directly by their operations (e.g., refining oil) as well as from their energy consumption. Companies will also have to report what are called Scope 3 emissions from their supply chains and customers if they are material, which will be in the eyes of progressive investors.

“For example, Exxon Mobil would have to report its direct emissions as well as any from fossil fuels burned to generate the electricity it uses. It may have to quantify emissions from the combustion of its products, the tankers that deliver them, and the manufacturing of its rigs and plastic products when they degrade.”

You can bet that liberals in Washington are eager to add this new hurdle for America’s energy producers – even if it’s not legal. Biden’s Democrat-run SEC claims it has the authority to impose the rule. But the Journal points out that “neither securities law nor the Constitution lets the SEC mandate whatever public disclosures some investors or politicians want.”

“Stymied legislatively at every turn by his own political party, the Biden Administration is resorting to unelected agencies to implement their green agenda on an unwilling country,” said Daniel Turner, Founder and Executive Director for Power The Future. “This proposed rule is as unenforceable as it is insane. Punishing industries for consumer use of their products would not only discourage output, it would inevitably lead to higher prices for everyday customers. It’s the latest in a disturbing pattern of behavior from an Administration who wants to attack and demonize rather than empower and encourage the private sector who will drive us out of the economic morass they have created.”

PTF has already highlighted the fact that the rest of the world is waking up to the need for more fossil fuel energy. But President Biden and his minions at the SEC are still looking for new and illegal ways to punish America’s fossil fuel producers and the men and women who work in the industry that powers our economy.