FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: John Mangalonzo, Press Secretary
Phone: (304) 590-5026
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Release Date: Aug. 17, 2022 |
Attorney General Morrisey Leads Another Major Coalition Against Woke ESG Rule
CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has led a 21-state coalition in filing formal comments regarding a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed rule that would add onerous requirements for investment funds that consider Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors in their investment decisions.
The proposed rule, called Enhanced Disclosures by Certain Investment Advisers and Investment Companies about Environmental, Social and Governance Investment Practices, is another attempt by the SEC to transform itself from the “federal regulator of securities into a regulator of social ills,” according to the coalition’s comments letter.
“This proposed rule is nothing but another attempt from Biden’s administrative state to target fossil fuel companies as part of a larger partisan strategy. It violates the major questions doctrine, which was settled when we won our U.S. Supreme Court case in West Virginia v EPA, confirming that U.S. Congress—not a federal administrative agency—has the power to decide major issues of the day,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “West Virginia will vigorously participate in the rulemaking process, and, if necessary, will go to court to defend against any regulatory overreach by the SEC or any other agency in the name of climate disclosures.”
The proposed rule would add onerous reporting requirements for investment funds with no rational justification, the Attorney General added.
Attorney General Morrisey in June led a coalition of attorneys general in filing formal comments regarding an SEC initiative that would require companies to make policy statements not related to financial performance.
In July, the Attorney General again took the lead in filing a supplemental letter regarding that same initiative, citing the recent Supreme Court ruling in West Virginia v EPA.
“The woke left is going full throttle in their mission to change every facet of American life, businesses and erode our democratic institutions to suit their liberal agenda,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “The Biden administration wants to radically transform the SEC and other agencies run by unelected bureaucrats and make them champions of climate change, regardless of what those agencies’ functions are—Biden is creating a federal bureaucracy to suit his agenda.”
West Virginia was joined in the letter by Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.
Read a copy of the letter at: https://bit.ly/3C8tfdB.
Read a copy of the letter the Attorney General sent to the SEC in June at: https://bit.ly/3NU4ZPG.
Read a copy of the supplemental letter sent to the SEC in July at: https://bit.ly/3z2K7Ra.
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