Time grows short for SEC’s new climate disclosure rules as October expires

Plus, behind the House Republican’s fresh assault on President Biden’s climate policies.

In today’s edition:

— October’s come and gone without the SEC’s expected climate disclosure rules. Time is running out for Chairman Gary Gensler

— New House speaker Mike Johnson wasted no time attacking President Biden’s climate agenda. What’s next?

— Striking U.S. auto workers won big concessions over EVs, raising an already high bar on sales for automakers

— Is climate sloganeering hurting the cause?

— Scary good: which U.S. state produces the best pumpkins for pumpkin pie

— The U.S. government is stepping up its wind program in the Gulf of Mexico as delays fester offshore in New England

Boo! A bobcat is seen in a tree this month at Joshua Tree National Park.

With only hours left in what’s turned out to be a brutal October month for markets, there is no sign of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s long-awaited climate disclosure rules.

While SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has taken pains to tell lawmakers his staff is not on the clock, the proposed rules, now more than two years overdue, were largely expected in October. Lawmakers including Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, are calling for release ASAP.

But as recently as last week, Gensler said his team was still tweaking parts of the rules around how private company suppliers of public companies would be affected, which was the strongest indication yet that the final rules will include reporting on Scope 3 supplier emissions.

With only five weeks before the United Nations COP28 climate summit begins in Dubai — and one of them being Thanksgiving week in the U.S. — that leaves precious little time for the SEC team if they want to make the biggest impact with the rules on a global stage.

Winning global support will be crucial for Gensler as the rules are expected to be bitterly contested by Republican lawmakers and anti-climate activists, with legal challenges almost certain to come immediately.

Whenever the proposals are filed, given delayed implementation times typically associated with these procedures it’s unlikely nothing would take effect before the presidential election next November. And similar rules signed two weeks ago in California also have lengthy implementation schedules.

The government may not be on the clock, but a new report this week warned we are only six years away from tipping beyond the threshold of the Paris agreement to keep world temperatures at a safer level. Climate change waits for no man, even Gary Gensler.

Don’t forget to contact me directly if you have suggestions or ideas at dcallaway@callawayclimateinsights.com.

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David Callaway talks with Danny McCoy, CEO of Ibec (right), at the Dublin Climate Summit last week.

The harmful side of climate slogans