This week Commissioner Peirce explained that beyond requiring public companies to demand data on climate risks from even small businesses and farmers in their supply chains, the rule could also force changes in how companies operate and even who runs them. In a speech at the American Enterprise Institute Ms. Peirce noted:
... the climate proposal mandates disclosure about board oversight of climate-related risks, including identifying board members or board committees responsible for overseeing climate-related risks; detailing board member climate expertise; describing the processes and frequency of discussions about climate-related risks; explaining how the board is informed about, and how often it thinks about, climate-related risks and whether it considers climate-related risks as part of its business strategy, risk management, and financial oversight; and describing whether and how the board sets climate-related targets or goals and how it oversees progress in achieving them. The proposal also includes a corresponding set of disclosures related to management: who is responsible for managing climate-related risks, what their climate expertise is, how they get informed about those risks, and how often the managers responsible for climate-related risks report to the board...
One comment letter objected that the “disclosures usurp the decision-making authority of corporate boards and executive management, authority specifically granted to them by state corporate law."
Washington would essentially be forcing every public company, regardless of industry, to focus on climate, while also pressuring them to hire leaders who share this obsession. But even the most climate-obsessed ought to recognize that such change requires a new law, not unelected financial regulators suddenly deciding to appoint themselves ministers of global warming.
One also has to wonder why Mr. Gensler—running an agency with no particular expertise in the science of climate—feels compelled to impose this system on businesses that are already facing enormous pressure to adopt the climate agendas of institutional financiers.
Whether overreaching regulators or Wall Street wokesters, the new House majority will likely seek to ensure that neither group is abusing its lawful authority.
“There is mounting evidence the grassroots backlash on the right against ‘woke’ corporate America has tremendous momentum and is reshaping" Republican priorities, Piper Sandler’s Andy Laperriere is telling clients. “This could have potentially broad policy implications, and industries like big tech, Wall Street, and entertainment are in the crosshairs," he adds.
Blocking the SEC from its outrageous attempt to become the nation’s climate regulator is also likely to be a House GOP priority.
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Democrats Lose a Senator
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona is changing her political affiliation from Democratic to independent and explains in the Arizona Republic:
Each day, Arizonans wake up, work and live alongside people with different views and experiences, usually without even thinking about partisan politics... Americans are more united than the national parties would have us believe. We’ve shown that a diverse democracy can still function effectively.
... if anyone previously supported me because they believed, contrary to my promise, that I would be a blindly loyal vote for a partisan agenda – or for those who believe our state should be represented by partisans who push divisive, negative politics, regardless of the impact on our state – then there are sure to be others vying for your support.
I offer Arizonans something different.
Some partisans believe they own this Senate seat.
They don’t.
Sen. Sinema seems likely to continue caucusing with Democrats in organizing the Senate. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) says in a press release:
Senator Sinema informed me of her decision to change her affiliation to Independent. She asked me to keep her committee assignments and I agreed. Kyrsten is independent; that’s how she’s always been. I believe she’s a good and effective Senator and am looking forward to a productive session in the new Democratic majority Senate. We will maintain our new majority on committees, exercise our subpoena power, and be able to clear nominees without discharge votes.
But there could be an important policy result from her decision to drop the partisan label. Dan Clifton at Strategas writes today:
...Sinema has been in talks with Senators Manchin and Romney about an entitlement commission as part of a debt ceiling deal. The switch to Independent gives her a little more flexibility to broker a deal on how the debt ceiling gets raised, which will be important given that conservatives are demanding action on spending cuts in exchange for the debt ceiling [increase], and clearing 60 votes in the Senate on spending cuts seems unlikely.
Sinema has a chance to carve a path.
Carving into bloated federal budgets would demonstrate true independence from the Beltway establishment.
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Necessity Is the Mother of Bureaucratic Reinvention
Very far from Washington and the SEC, Germans are discovering how much red tape they can live without—and how quickly societal progress can be achieved—when there is a broad understanding of the continuing need for fossil fuels.
The Journal’s Georgi Kantchev reports from Wilhelmshaven on the country’s response to the loss of Russian gas imports:
In March, the German government asked energy companies to weigh a seemingly impossible engineering task. Could a new liquefied natural gas import terminal, which normally takes at least five years to build, be erected in this port town by year’s end?
As businesses sprint to meet the deadline, they have found that even the government has been willing to adjust its pace. Mr. Kantchev reports:
The parliament passed an LNG Acceleration Act, speeding up procedures for reviewing, approving and awarding contracts for LNG projects.
“If there is a chance in this really terrible situation, it is that we shake off all this sleepiness and, in some cases, grouchiness that exists in Germany," Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in March about speeding up the construction of LNG terminals.
Sleepy and grouchy is no way to go through life. Is it possible that this experience could inspire more alert and friendly bureaucracies in Germany? The Journal account highlights the contrast between this year’s effort and the typical infrastructure build:
Other large construction projects have moved slowly in Germany. In 2020, Berlin opened its new airport nine years behind schedule. Stuttgart’s new railway station, under construction since 2010, is now scheduled to open in 2025, after years of delays and ballooning costs.
The state of Niedersachsen issued some of the necessary permits for the LNG terminal on May 1, the International Workers’ Day, a Sunday. “It’s not a day when you’d expect that to happen," said Olaf Lies, the state’s economy minister. “We needed a new German speed."
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Blue-State Model: Still Not Working
Steve Hughes reports in the Albany Times-Union:
New York is falling behind the rest of the country when it comes to combating poverty.
A new report on poverty trends in the state over the last decade shows that while the statewide poverty rate has dropped, there remain millions of New Yorkers who can’t meet their basic needs. The report from state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office shows that the poverty rate in the rest of the country fell faster than it did in New York, and that poverty remains persistently high among some groups in the state.
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The Game
A friend who excelled in college football reports that he never liked playing against the service academies because he “felt like I was playing against America." On Saturday patriotic fans can pick either side while still rooting for the USA. Preparations for the famous football game have been extensive.
Jonathan Lehrfeld reports for Military Times:
Following a time-honored tradition, the Army West Point Marathon Team will run the game ball from the academy in New York to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia ahead of the 123rd Army-Navy game on Dec. 10...
Along their route, even late into the night, they will be greeted with cheers from local residents in the various towns they pass through. Once the marathoners reach Philadelphia, they will make their way to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
What the team does next is drawn straight from the iconic scene of the film “Rocky" where actor Sylvester Stallone’s titular character runs up the flight of museum stairs during a training sequence...
Midshipmen from the Naval Academy’s marathon team are planning to make their own 130-mile plus trip to deliver an Army-Navy football to the game...
Battles are not just won on the ground. A Tuesday press release out of Annapolis announced:
The United States Naval Academy can confirm that on Dec. 5, 2022, at 11:59 a.m. EST, midshipmen from the Class of 2023 successfully conducted an air-to-ground spirit mission over the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, ahead of Saturday’s 123rd Army-Navy Game.
Twelve delivery passes dropped “Beat Army" and “Fly Navy" leaflets, along with ping pong balls, over Army West Point’s “The Apron." Army cadets could be seen breaking formation and running for cover.
Haley Brtizky at CNN reports:
A statement from the West Point public affairs office on Tuesday confirmed the Naval Academy’s mission, but said that while they completed 12 passes, “unfortunately not all the drops hit the intended targets."
... While West Point’s statement said there was no planned retaliation against the Naval Academy, a video on a popular Instagram page that frequently posts about West Point appeared to show a group of cadets quietly sneaking around the Naval Academy’s campus in the dead of night, pulling off one prank after another.
Go Army. Go Navy.
