The Fifth Circuit has halted the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) climate reporting rules in response to legal objections. Liberty Energy Inc., a fracking company, requested a delay while pursuing its case. The decision was a setback for the SEC in its ongoing legal battle over regulations requiring firms to disclose greenhouse gas emissions and other climate-related data.
Liberty Energy requested a stay, citing “irreversible injury” from compliance costs and constitutional concerns. The SEC reacted by dismissing the charges as hypothetical. The Fifth Circuit’s administrative stay, which was granted without explanation, prevents the rules from being applied during the litigation process.
Multiple challenges to SEC regulations are pending in several circuits, with a lottery expected to select which court will hear aggregated claims. Republican attorneys general and environmental groups have filed lawsuits, reflecting broader ideological divides. While Republican-appointed judges dominate some circuits, others are overwhelmingly Democratic-appointed, confusing the judicial landscape.In this protracted legal saga, the fate of the SEC’s climate reporting standards is undetermined, pending further court actions and verdicts.
