Jun. 17, 2022
Dear Commissioners, Thank you for the opportunity to share with you my viewpoint on the proposed “Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors” regulations. Please take a moment to contemplate how an American citizen like me; a homemaker, mom, and educator, sees these proposed rules as a dangerous action that will cause undo hardship to businesses, shareholders, and our economy overall. The SEC was created to protect the shareholders of businesses and to enact rules to prevent fraudulent behavior; yet these proposed rules are an egregious overstep of governmental power. At what point did the authority of the SEC grow in such a way to subvert the decision making ability of a business and its board, and to tip the favor towards the will of activist financial institutions and “stakeholders”? The proposed rules are a power play that the SEC would be an active participant in, and perhaps, one could even say, the driver in the destruction of some industries. These burdensome rules will deepen the divide in our country by picking winners and losers based not on fraud; but on whether a company or business complies with the supporters of Green Energy through the enforcement of an even deeper ideological ESG agenda. When did it become the role of the SEC to assist in the creation of a Green industry? Enacting disclosure rules that destroy the “rule of materiality” is a backdoor way to push a Green Energy policy. The influence of “stakeholders” has been enabled by the powers to be in financial institutions who are heavy-handedly coercing companies to comply, or be punished. I ask you to please reevaluate these proposed regulations. Ask yourselves: “What are our intentions in enforcing these proposed rules?” “How will this effect the retirement funds of Americans who have invested in companies that activists of the Green Agenda deem disposable?” “Is it the place of the SEC to carry out the desires of a certain industry over another?” Imagine if you gave up control of all of your investments to a decision maker who had a different mindset than you. Her decision comes back. Your total ESG ranking is a zero. You loose everything because she didn’t agree with your ideology. Please do not overstep your authority. Sincerely, Julie Gaffney Ferdenzi