Democrats want companies to disclose their climate risks -- and fossil fuel industry is worried

[DonViejo]

Proposals to make the disclosures mandatory are sprouting in the platforms of almost all the party's leading White House hopefuls.

By BEN LEFEBVRE and ANTHONY ADRAGNA 06/17/2019 03:17 PM EDT

Democratic presidential candidates have a sweeping array of proposals to fight climate change, but virtually all the leading hopefuls agree on one relatively simple proposal: forcing companies to disclose the risks they face from a warming atmosphere.

Environmental groups and investors alike say the Securities and Exchange Commission has let oil and gas companies obscure how stricter greenhouse gas regulations and the changing climate could jeopardize their operations. Now, fossil fuel producers worry that a Democratic president would require them to make damaging revelations that would spook investors.

Presidential hopefuls like former Vice President Joe Biden, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke are all proposing plans to strengthen the SEC’s climate-related disclosure requirements. And other Democrats said it’s about time for the SEC’s regulators to take climate change more seriously.

"They don’t need to be climate warriors, but they should be warriors for shareholders understanding the risk associated with their investments," Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) told POLITICO. "If they’re not requiring one of the fastest growing risks to be accurately accounted for, then they’re not doing their job."

more
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/17/democrats-energy-industry-climate-risk-1483586

[shanny]

1. poco a poco

[SWBTATTReg]

2. Most companies already do list in their annual statements to shareholders etc. possible future...

impacts of future/ongoing/past events, just to list anything that could materially impact the bottom line. If a company didn't, I assume that the more activist shareholders would sue or force such disclosures, if anything, to disclose potential future liabilities for the company.