U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Sues California Over Climate Disclosure Laws

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is suing the state of California over its new climate disclosure laws, including Senate Bill 253, which would require companies to report their emissions throughout their supply chain. 

The chamber hammered the law for requiring such comprehensive reporting, "including indirect emissions, no matter where they occur despite the fact that such emissions can be nearly impossible for a company to accurately calculate," a release from the chamber says, echoing a refrain repeated by companies to explain why they don't measure emissions throughout their supply chain. 

"The laws also require companies to subjectively report their worldwide climate-related financial risks and proposed mitigation strategies," the chamber's statement says, referring also to Senate Bill 261, which would require some larger companies to regularly report their climate-related financial risks. "The laws apply to companies across the U.S. and worldwide on the basis of even minimal operations in the state of California, thus attempting to impose essentially a national standard." 

The American Farm Bureau Federation, California Chamber of Commerce, Central Valley Business Federation, Los Angeles County Business Federation and Western Growers Association are listed as co-plaintiffs on the complaint.

Eugene Scalia, the former secretary of labor and son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, is among the Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher law team working on the chamber's suit. Scalia has also been hired by a trade group for big banks preparing to sue the Federal Reserve over new industry regulations, Semafor reported last month. 

Experts in the field say that while it is difficult to measure Scope 3 emissions, it isn't impossible and some of the most prominent REITs and investment managers in CRE already do so. 

A Bisnow investigation into climate policies of leading companies in commercial real estate has shown that regulation has been the most effective method to push the industry to address its carbon emissions.  

Ceres, one of the nonprofits that co-sponsored the legislation, said in a statement emailed to Bisnow that more than 30 companies and industry groups publicly advocated for the passage of the climate laws that the chamber is challenging. 

"Companies support the California laws because they recognize the necessity of these disclosures for their investors and other stakeholders, including California residents who have disproportionately felt the effects of climate change," Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets Managing Director Steven Rothstein said via email. 

Rothstein also said SB 253 and 261 are complements to a pending climate disclosure rule the Securities and Exchange Commission is finalizing. 

"The market demands this information, which is why many firms already supply climate risk disclosures voluntarily," Rothstein said. "These disclosures from companies doing business in California will give the public consistent and reliable information to inform investment selection and other key decision-making."

The state is in the process of allocating funding to the California Air Resources Board to fund implementation of the new legislation.