Michael Hiltzik: Bowing to right-wingers, the SEC issues a pathetically watered-down climate disclosure rule

Corporate managements nationwide undoubtedly breathed sighs of relief Wednesday, when the Securities and Exchange Commission approved a rule mandating their disclosures of greenhouse gas emissions and risks from global warming.

That's because the rule is much weaker than its original version, which was first published in March 2022. The final version removed provisions requiring disclosure of some emissions produced by a company's entire business chain and expanded exemptions for smaller companies.

But if managements think they'll be able to avoid making more complete disclosures than the SEC is requiring, they have another think coming.

Shareholders are demanding more. So is the European Union, which has enacted rules requiring all companies with EU branches employing more than 250 workers, more than $42 million in European revenues or more than $21 million in capital assets to make the very disclosures that the SEC dropped from its mandate, starting in 2025.

More than 3,200 U.S. corporations are expected to become subject to the EU mandate.

Then there's California, which last year enacted two laws requiring companies with annual revenues of more than $500 million and business activities in the state to