Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton led a multistate letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opposing its proposed rule to impose a crushing matrix of new climate-related disclosures on publicly traded companies and other entities. The rule would turn the SEC, which regulates capital markets, into a new environmental regulatory body, without any lawful authorization for that unprecedented expansion of power. The proposed rule would also cost American businesses millions of additional dollars in regulatory compliance, which will be passed on to the consumer and taxpayer, with little to no environmental benefit.  

“The host of new requirements in this Proposed Rule are motivated by a small number of environmental activists who seek to steer the economy away from fossil fuels and to impose controversial environmental, social, and governance (ESG) mandates,” reads the letter. “If such a policy is to be pursued . . . there is a body constitutionally empowered to make that choice: Congress. By acting outside of its statutory authority, the SEC has usurped the role of the People’s elected representatives to set the United States’ policy on climate change.” 

“Biden is weaponizing all the levers of federal power to impose his radical, pie-in-the-sky environmental agenda on every sector of American society,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The SEC’s proposed rules are unlawful, unconstitutional, and just plain bad policy. My fellow attorneys general and I are sending this letter to make that clear. If the rules get enacted, I’ll sue—and I’ll win.”  

Read the letter here.