State AGs push the SEC on ESG (2022)
| Environmental, social, and corporate governance |
|---|
|
| • What is ESG? • Enacted ESG legislation • Arguments for and against ESG • Opposition to ESG • Federal ESG rules • ESG legislation tracker • Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's weekly ESG newsletter |
On August 17, 2022, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) led a group of state attorneys general in filing comments with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opposing the Commission’s proposed rules for ESG funds. Morrisey and the others appeared to be planning to challenge the SEC in the same manner as Morrissey successfully challenged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for overstepping its statutory authority:[1]
“West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has signaled that he plans to take a page from his recent Supreme Court climate win to challenge the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed rule for funds that are marketed as socially and environmentally responsible.
"In formal comments filed yesterday with the SEC, 21 Republican state legal officers led by Morrisey argued that the agency is trying to transform itself from the federal overseer of securities 'into the regulator of broader social ills.'
"And they say SEC’s move runs afoul of West Virginia v. EPA, the landmark Supreme Court decision that curbed the federal government’s authority to regulate carbon emissions from power plants. ...
"At issue is an SEC proposal that would require firms to prove that investments that purport to be green or socially aware live up to those claims (Climatewire, May 26).
"While the rule cannot be challenged in court until it is finalized, the letter from West Virginia and other states provides an early look at the claims opponents are likely to raise.
"Morrisey argued in the comment letter that the proposed SEC rule violates the 'major questions' doctrine, which he said was 'settled' in the Supreme Court’s June 30 decision in West Virginia. The high court’s conservative majority agreed with Morrisey and other parties in the case that the doctrine — which says Congress must speak clearly if it wants a federal agency to act on a matter of 'vast economic and political significance' — precludes a broad EPA carbon rule like the Obama-era Clean Power Plan.”
See also
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's ESG newsletter
External links
Footnotes
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
