Op-Ed: The SEC killed a rule. It didn’t kill the mandate

The public comment period on the SEC’s proposal to rescind its 2024 climate-disclosure rules closed this past Monday, after 60 days. The original rule drew more than 14,000 comments when it was proposed in 2022; its unwinding has moved with considerably less fanfare. The rescission is correct on the law and overdue as policy. It also solves a narrower problem than the one that pension trustees, asset managers, and a growing number of corporate boards actually created. The SEC never had to finalize a climate rule for institutional fiduciaries to start treating climate risk as a mandate that sits a...