Kennedy joins Republican colleagues in opposing SEC's move to overregulate farmers, ranchers

Press Release

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today joined Sens. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.), in addition to 29 other colleagues, in opposing a proposed rule from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that would require publicly-traded companies to make certain climate-related disclosures in registration statements and reports. In voicing their concerns regarding the SEC's regulatory overreach, the senators called for the rule to be rescinded due to the burden it would place on farmers, agricultural producers and ranchers.

"While farmers and ranchers have never been subject to SEC oversight, the proposed rule's Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions reporting requirement would place a major reporting burden on the many agricultural producers that provide raw products to the value-chain. This substantial reporting requirement would significantly burden small, family-owned farms with a new, complex and unreasonable compliance requirement, resulting in costly additional compliance expenses, reduced access to new business opportunities, and potential consolidation in the agriculture industry," they wrote.

"Should the SEC move forward with this rule, it would be granted unprecedented jurisdiction over America's farms and ranches, creating an impractical regulatory burden for thousands of businesses outside of the scope of the SEC's purview, including our nation's farmers and ranchers," they continued.

The letter is available here.

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