Views from Washington, D.C. Neglect fom Regulators
Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer
On June 3, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reached its 100th day. Te West’s response has had widespread economic effects since the invasion. Roughly 1,000 companies have curtailed business or completely withdrawn from Russia. Te Treasury and Fed placed significant financial sanctions on Russian banks and oligarchs, and the banning of Russian oil exacerbated the energy crisis that had been brewing in America since the beginning of last year.
Here in the U.S., families are drowning in inflation, markets are extremely volatile and more than 80% of Americans believe we’re headed for a recession. So, it makes sense that the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s top priority is … climate change? In one of the most unstable economies since 2008, the government agency charged with
identifying and responding to risks to the financial system is focused on carbon emissions. I remind you that FSOC is housed in the U.S. Treasury Department and is made up of the heads of all the financial regulatory agencies. Tis is not an Environmental Protection Agency or Department of Energy council; it’s purely financial services. It’s clear that the political desires of the White House are superseding the statutory missions of the Treasury.
President Biden’s administration has not been shy about putting climate change at the top of its priority list. I’m sure bankers across Missouri were just as disturbed as I was by the nomination of Saule Omarova for the Comptroller of the Currency. When discussing U.S. energy producers, she publicly stated, “we want them to
go bankrupt if we want to tackle climate change, right?” Te nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin for vice chair of supervision at the Federal Reserve was no better. Fortunately, the U.S. Senate found both nominees unfit for those positions, but most of the regulators who were confirmed share their beliefs.
As the head of FSOC, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is ultimately responsible for the council’s direction, and she has been clear about prioritizing climate. However, when it comes to climate virtue signaling, Security Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler seems to be leading the way. In March, he announced a proposed rule that would mandate that all publicly traded companies disclose their so- called climate risk. Included in that disclosure must be all indirect emissions from
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