ASA Statement on SEC’s Climate Disclosure Proposal

WASHINGTON – The American Securities Association (ASA) today raised several questions after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed climate disclosure mandates for public companies.

“Having an administrative agency prioritize the interests of an ESG-Industrial Complex that invests in China and Russia over those of America’s working families, retail investors, and retirement savers to dispense with the concept of materiality and to force the reallocation of capital towards politically-favored industries should concern every American,” said ASA CEO Chris Iacovella. “Before any rule is finalized, the American public must understand exactly how the SEC plans to empirically prove its disclosures will impact global temperatures, our national security, and the cost of food, gas, heat, and other goods and services American citizens need to live. It is important to remember that lawmaking in the ‘public interest’ is a power vested in Congress by the Constitution, not the administrative state.”

Last year, ASA released an ESG Disclosure Resource Index to catalogue a number of recent studies, reports, news articles, as well as statements from policymakers to help inform the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as it considers whether to mandate climate and environmental, social, and governance disclosures for public companies.

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