Thune Expresses Frustration With SEC Proposal

South Dakota Senator John Thune is taking aim at an SEC proposal that could force farmers to keep an inventory of climate emissions.  Thune argues the White House is trying to discourage firms through SEC and other agency rulemaking from investing in fossil fuels by forcing downstream reporting of climate emissions.

“I’ve got small lenders in South Dakota, Ag banks, credit unions, that are worried that this pressure’s going to extend to them, not to make loans to agricultural operations. Livestock emit methane, right?”

In response, Thune introduced a bill to require regulatory agencies to first meet an inflation test before imposing new rules that could drive up food and fuel costs.

“If they would, in a period of inflation, add to inflationary pressures and raise the cost of those items, then they would be prevented from issuing those regulations.”

Thune’s bill would ban federal regulators from implementing any rule that would increase food or energy prices if inflation is higher than 4.5%.  Inflation topped 9% in June, a four-decade high.

“I think this legislation is something that would provide consumers some relief and prevent these overreaching, heavy-handed government regulations being imposed by agencies that are costing our American families dearly.”

An American Farm Bureau official argued in May that the SEC rule would put a “huge squeeze” on small and medium-sized farms that don’t have the time and money to keep track of every emission of methane or gallon of diesel used.

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