Biden admin temporarily drops 'outrageous climate mandate' amid flurry of lawsuits

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) temporarily suspended its controversial rule requiring private companies to disclose carbon emissions data after it was met with a slew of lawsuits. 

The rule, which was finalized in March, was immediately met with litigation by a cohort of 25 GOP attorneys general, along with energy companies Liberty Energy and Nomad Proppant Services, and business groups including the Chamber of Commerce, Texas Alliance of Energy Producers and Domestic Energy Producers Alliance.

Last month, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a brief administrative stay of the rule while the various lawsuits were consolidated. The groups asked the 8th Circuit to force the SEC to block its rule. On Friday, the SEC voluntarily agreed to temporarily suspend its rule while the litigation continues on the merits. 

"The mandate is part of Biden’s radical green scheme to influence investments based on climate change theories instead of returns," Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said Friday, adding that "it would’ve cost Missouri businesses millions of dollars per year." 

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Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"It would’ve required businesses to disclose climate-related risks, including higher insurance rates from weather disasters, and release a plan to adapt to climate agenda recommendations," Bailey said.

"Our message to Joe Biden: you cannot implement this insane climate mandate without an act of Congress. Constitution 101: Separation of powers," Bailey stated on X.

In a letter to the 8th Circuit, the SEC said that the stay order "reaffirms the Commission’s ‘view that the Final Rules are consistent with applicable law and within the Commission’s long-standing authority,’"

"As the Commission explains, particularly given the procedural complexities of this litigation, a stay will facilitate this Court’s orderly resolution of petitioners’ challenges and will avoid potential regulatory uncertainty ‘if registrants were to become subject to the Final Rules’ requirements during the pendency of the challenges to their validity,’" the letter sent Friday states. 

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Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird led the lawsuit of 25 GOP AGs against the SEC rule. (Getty Images)

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird reacted to the SEC’s announcement Friday, calling the rule "Biden’s most outrageous climate mandate for businesses yet," and called the SEC's stay of the rule a "huge win." 

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Missouri Attorney General Bailey said the SEC's climate disclosure rule would have required businesses to disclose climate-related risks and release a plan to adapt to climate agenda recommendations. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

Under the leadership of Chairman Gary Gensler, whom President Biden appointed to the role, the SEC approved the climate disclosure rules on March 6 in a 3-2 vote after nearly two years of heated deliberations.

The SEC has said that the rules reflect "investors’ demand for more consistent, comparable, and reliable information about the financial effects of climate-related risks." 

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And Gensler said they will further guarantee companies "produce more useful information than what investors see today."

Fox News Digital's Thomas Cattennacci contributed to this report.