(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is leading an effort to block the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from overstepping its authority by meddling in environmental policy.
Suing on behalf of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, Yost today asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to review a new rule requiring publicly traded companies to report climate-related information to the SEC.
“This isn’t a debate about protecting the environment – it’s question of federal overreach,” Yost said. “The regulator of the stock market has no business setting environmental policy for the country.”
On March 6, the SEC voted to adopt a climate-disclosure rule that requires publicly traded companies to disclose on their registration statements and annual report information about climate-related risks caused by their business.
Yost contends that the rule is an unlawful attempt by the SEC to grant itself broad oversight over environmental issues that have nothing to do with financial markets.
Equally concerning, Yost argues, is how the SEC’s plan to impose immense compliance burdens on publicly traded companies would injure financial markets, industries and investments, including those of Ohio pensioners.
Joining Yost on the petition are the attorneys general for Kentucky and Tennessee. Other states have brought separate suits challenging the rule in other courts of appeals.
A full copy of the filing is available on the attorney general’s website.