Federal Regulation On April 8, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order that sought to target actions undertaken by individual US states to combat climate change, for the stated purpose of ensuring “American energy...more
Recently, both the State of Hawaii and the State of Michigan had announced that they would be pursuing litigation against fossil fuel companies concerning alleged damages stemming from the companies' contribution to climate...more
5/5/2025
/ Climate Change ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Executive Orders ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Preemption ,
State and Local Government ,
Trump Administration
On April 24, 2025, the Eighth Circuit ordered that the litigation over the validity of the SEC's climate disclosure rule be “held in abeyance.” This order was in response to a submission by a coalition of blue states that...more
Earlier this month, President Trump issued an executive order that sought to target actions undertaken by individual U.S. states to combat climate change, for the stated purpose of ensuring “American energy dominance.”...more
On March 27, 2025, as expected, the SEC under the Trump administration abandoned the climate disclosure rule promulgated by the Biden administration, specifically stating in a court filing that it would no longer defend the...more
As expected, the SEC under the Trump Administration has abandoned the climate disclosure rule promulgated by the Biden Administration. Specifically, as stated in a court filing today, “the Commission has determined that it...more
3/28/2025
/ Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Trump Administration
The Trump administration’s SEC has begun the process of undoing the mandatory climate disclosure rule promulgated by the SEC under the Biden administration. Specifically, the SEC has now asked the Eighth Circuit — where the...more
On February 18, 2025, Judge Bloom (S.D. Fla.) dismissed a lawsuit against Lululemon, the athleisure company, that centered upon allegations of greenwashing. Specifically, the plaintiffs here had contended “that Lululemon...more
2/25/2025
/ Class Action ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Greenwashing ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Standing ,
Sustainability ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
In December 2024, the State of New York enacted the “Climate Change Superfund Act,” which would impose retroactive fines on fossil fuel producers for greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. (New York was...more
4 Last week, a federal district judge in the Northern District of Texas upheld a rule promulgated by the Biden Administration's Department of Labor enabling ESG-focused investing. Specifically, the court determined that the...more
In June 2023, Mintz published an article entitled “A Quantitative Analysis of Comment Letters Issued by the SEC Concerning Climate Change Disclosures” (the June 2023 Article), which analyzed the comment letters related to...more
2/20/2025
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
EDGAR ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenwashing ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sustainability
In a development that could hardly be termed unexpected, the Trump Administration SEC has begun the process of unraveling the climate disclosure rule promulgated by the SEC under the Biden Administration. Specifically, the...more
Over the past several weeks, each of the major US banks have announced their withdrawal from the Net Zero Banking Alliance (presumably in response to the policy priorities of the second Trump Administration). Although...more
Following a bench trial, on January 10, 2025, Judge Reed O’Connor of the US District Court of the Northern District of Texas held that the managers of a company’s 401(k) retirement plans had breached their fiduciary duty by...more
Judge Wright (C.D. Cal.) has significantly narrowed the Chamber of Commerce's lawsuit challenging California's climate disclosure laws. (These disclosure laws mandate disclosure of Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 greenhouse...more
2/7/2025
/ California ,
Chamber of Commerce ,
Climate Change ,
Compliance ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
First Amendment ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
Supremacy Clause
Following a bench trial, Judge O'Connor (N.D. Tex.) held that “that Defendants breached their fiduciary duty by failing to loyally act solely in the retirement plan's best financial interests by allowing their corporate...more
1/13/2025
/ 401k ,
BlackRock ,
Breach of Duty ,
Corporate Governance ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment ,
Investment Management ,
Retirement Plan ,
Sustainability
Regulatory Updates -
There have been a couple of noteworthy developments in recent weeks concerning the mandatory climate disclosure regime enacted by California. These developments relate to SB 253 and SB 261, which...more
1/8/2025
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
California ,
Climate Change ,
Damages ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Montana ,
State Attorneys General ,
Sustainability
On December 18, 2024, the Montana Supreme Court issued a ruling upholding a lower state court's decision that, under Montana's constitution, there is a “fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment...more
On November 19, 2024, the EU Council adopted a new regulation on ESG ratings, which “aim[s] at making rating activities in the EU more consistent, transparent, and comparable in order to boost investors' confidence in...more
On December 16, 2024, the California Air Resources Board--the regulatory agency responsible for implementing California's mandatory climate disclosure regime--solicited public feedback concerning the design of the regulation....more
Every year, Mintz provides analysis of the regulatory developments that impact public companies as they prepare for their fiscal year-end filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and their annual shareholder...more
2 On December 5, 2024, the California Air Resources Board--the agency responsible for implementing California's climate disclosure regulations--announced that it would “exercise enforcement discretion for the first reporting...more
According to a recent report, the climate disclosure rules recently promulgated by the European Union will compel more than 3,000 U.S. companies to file mandatory climate-related disclosures. This fact demonstrates the...more
The day before Thanksgiving, eleven Republican state attorneys-general (representing Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, West Virginia and Wyoming) filed a lawsuit against three...more
The SEC continues its focus on greenwashing, despite the recent disbandment of the SEC’s Climate & ESG Task Force.Notably, in the past month, the SEC Department of Examinations has issued a risk alert focused on greenwashing,...more