Should public companies disclose climate change risks?
Presently Securities and Exchange Commission regulations do not require disclosure of climate change risks.  But, if a public company chooses not to disclose it may be putting the company in jeopardy. What are the options?
The Disclosure Quandary
Public companies are facing pressure from shareholders to provide more disclosure about the impact of climate-related issues on their balance sheets.
While SEC regulations do not specifically mandate disclosure of climate change risks, the SEC does require public corporations disclose “material” risks. (See  Regulation S-K, Items 101, 103, and 303.)
In …

Speaker Nancy Pelosi continues to state unequivocally that the House will pass a climate change bill.  There, however, may be a major fly in Speaker Pelosi’s ointment. A growing number of Democratic House members from the Farm Belt states oppose the Waxman-Markey climate change bill.

May 29, 2009 — Marcia Coyle writing for The National Law Review, Questions Arise About Long Delay by Sotomayor-Led Panel in Climate Case, pointed out the mystery surrounding a major climate change lawsuit brought by eight states against five utilities.  Coyle notes that a decision is still pending and Sotomayer was the presiding judge.

Breaking news: June 3, 2009, Philadelphia — A report from the Associated Press says that gas drillers are poised to fight “environmental studies required by the federal government to tap into reserves under the Allegheny National Forest…”  The rationale: oil drillers predict that that this could bring drilling operations to a standstill.

According to Cebu Daily News, “Filipino youth groups will kick off a global legal action with their counterparts in Brazil on June 5 to urge government leaders to focus on the degradation of the environment, said an environmental lawyer.”