Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has filed a lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) due to a rule that places new climate requirements on U.S. companies.
Rokita
AG Rokita says that by implementing the rule, the SEC moves from its role as an independent federal agency enforcing laws against market manipulation to become a “partisan purveyor of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards.”
“Hoosiers rightly expect the SEC to be focused on protecting investors and financial markets rather than making companies bend the knee to radical environmentalism,” AG Rokita said. “This is one more disturbing example of leftwing bureaucrats extending the regulatory tentacles of ESG nonsense into every facet of the economy.”
The new rule compels companies to compile and disclose material related to their greenhouse-gas emissions and how their activities may affect climate change.
“Companies have a legal fiduciary duty to maximize returns to shareholders,” AG Rokita said. “Costly ideological requirements with no proven effect only drive up the price of goods for everyday Hoosiers and reduce value for shareholders. The only winners here are big business and the radical environmentalists with a vendetta against capitalism.”
The lawsuit against the SEC asks a federal appeals court to strike down the SEC’s new rule as unlawful.