DENVER – Western Energy Alliance today submitted public comments to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the proposed climate change disclosure rule designed to deny oil and natural gas companies access to capital and credit. The trade group detailed the agency’s lack of statutory authority, expansion of mission from protecting investors to regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and intent to increase the cost of energy. “Average gasoline prices exceed $5 per gallon and Pres. Biden is lobbying Saudi Arabia for more oil. Meanwhile, SEC is pushing regulations that double down on restricting domestic production and keeping energy prices high well into the future. The U.S. economy needs relief, not more government red tape to tie up oil and natural gas production,” said Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Alliance. “SEC is a financial not an environmental regulator, yet the commission is trying to address climate change as an end-run around Congress. Advocates for these regulations claim there’s already a consensus on climate change disclosure, but the investors SEC cites are overwhelmingly foreign. SEC is skating on very thin ice when it uses foreign companies and activists to justify a regulation that would impose well over $10 billion in costs on American society. “We strongly believe SEC should not finalize this rule, especially in light of the high energy prices that stem from the Biden Administration’s climate change policies,” Sgamma added. “The detrimental effects of these policies on inflation should cause the administration to reverse course on attempts to deny the oil and natural gas industry access to capital and otherwise suppress American production. Discovering an unheralded power to bring about a transition to a net-zero economy through financial disclosure is a gross overreach of power. SEC should stick to protecting investors and encouraging capital formation and economic growth.” For more information, please see the Alliance’s letter to SEC. Background:
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