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Agricultural companies and organizations push back against proposed SEC rule on emissions (2022)
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Late last month, farmers and agricultural companies began to push back against the SEC’s proposed climate disclosure rule. Trade groups including the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Corn Growers Association argue that, in their view, the imposition of greenhouse gas disclosure requirements could harm America’s farms and agricultural capacity. According to the Wall Street Journal:
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Big agricultural groups say a proposal from the Securities and Exchange Commission requiring companies to report their carbon footprint could drive small farmers out of business. Skeptics say it is more likely to be a boon for the consulting business. The proposal, unveiled by the SEC in March and not yet finalized, would require publicly traded companies to disclose their greenhouse-gas emissions, as well as the risks their business faces from climate change. Most controversially, some large companies would also have to provide an estimate of the emissions from their suppliers and consumers. Agriculture companies and farm groups have said the burden of generating those estimates would get passed on to small private farmers and drive up food costs. Supporters say those claims are misleading, and that large public companies will likely rely on consultants to crunch the numbers. The SEC proposal is backed by environmentalists and some fund managers who hope more transparency about climate data will help people make more informed investment decisions. The agriculture industry’s pushback aligns it with some other sectors opposed to the SEC proposal, including auto manufacturers and oil producers. Other industries with a smaller carbon footprint and more liberal-leaning workforce, including the tech and financial industries, have been broadly supportive of the proposal…. Meanwhile, trade groups including American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Corn Growers Association are rallying their members against the rule. They say requiring companies to calculate such emissions is a daunting task given the nature of farming. “A farm isn’t a smokestack,” said Mary-Thomas Hart, chief counsel at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. “You can’t put a monitor in and get steady emissions data.”[1] |
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See also
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's ESG newsletter
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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