The Climate Accountability Package — comprised of Senator Scott Wiener’s SB 253 and Senator Henry Stern’s SB 261 — created the nation’s first requirements for large corporations to publicly disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, carbon embedded in supply chains, and climate risks. The New York Times called SB 253 in particular a “landmark climate disclosure bill” […] with national repercussions.”
The ink on these bills is barely dry and they are already under attack from multiple fronts.
Governor Newsom’s proposed budget included significant cuts to address a $37.9 billion budget shortfall, including all funding to new legislative programs. Thus, the $9 million requested by the California Air Resources Control Board (CARB) to implement the Climate Accountability Package was part of that proposed cut. The Newsom Administration has emphasized that the proposed budget was just a starting point for negotiations. Senator Wiener, author of SB 253, has issued the following statement: “It’s critical that the May budget include funding to implement these laws so that businesses have the certainty they need to prepare to make these new disclosures.” Thus, funding to implement these laws is far from certain.
Although having the laws have the support of many major corporations, including Apple, Google, Salesforce, Levi’s, and Patagonia, the California Chamber of Commerce was stanchly opposed. In fact, it file suit in federal district court to challenge the laws on January 30, 2024. The petition, drafted by the firm multinational law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP, raises claims largely rooted in the US constitution.
- The petition argues that the laws impermissibly “compels speech” under the First Amendment by making the corporations report on their direct and indirect emissions, which they argue are primarily speculation, as well as requiring them to report on the future risks from climate change. Further, they complain that some of this reporting is on the company’s website. Many of the complaints are based on “vagueness” in the law; since both laws require CARB to adopt regulations to implement them, these charges seem premature.
- The petition argues that federal law in the United States Constitution and in the Clean Air Act preempts any efforts to require companies to report their emissions related to activities inside and outside of California. Implicit in this argument is that “reporting” on emissions is “regulation” on emissions.
- The petition argues that the laws somehow attempt to regulate commerce extraterritorially, both interstate and foreign, which is—according to the petition—an “offense” to the commerce clause.
All of these arguments are clearly aimed at the activist, conservative United States Supreme Court.
Senator Wiener issued the following statement in response:
“The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s lawsuit against these groundbreaking climate laws is straight up climate denial,” said Senator Wiener. “Why is the Chamber of Commerce working so aggressively to block basic transparency for the public? We know the answer. It’s not because of the Chamber’s bogus arguments about cost and implementation, since it’s both inexpensive and easy for corporations to make these disclosures. It’s not because of the Chamber’s bizarre and frivolous First Amendment argument. Rather, the Chamber is taking this extremist legal action because many large corporations — particularly fossil fuel corporations and large banks — are absolutely terrified that if they have to tell the public how dramatically they’re fueling climate change, they’ll no longer be able to mislead the public and investors. The Chamber and large corporate polluters don’t want the public to know how much they’re strangling the planet with carbon emissions — that’s why they filed this baseless lawsuit.
“The climate crisis is a real and present threat to our planet and to businesses’ success. Investors and consumers have a right to know the details of how billion dollar companies are navigating the greatest challenge of our time, and many major corporations like Apple and Google are already making these disclosures and support these laws because they understand that need. While corporate lobby groups continue to wage an unhinged misinformation campaign against these laws, investors and consumers are being deprived of vital information to navigate our rapidly warming planet.”
See more from Senator Weiner on the need to fund these measures at Four questions for Scott Wiener.