Jun. 01, 2021
Dear SEC Rule Comments, I retired in 2011 at age 59 due to health issues, and my wife and I have relied on my IRA savings since then. The Securities and Exchange Commission should require that corporate managers be more transparent with shareholders regarding their long-term plans. When I think about where to invest my money, I want to know which companies are serious about a just, green future. I want to know which companies are jeopardizing my future earnings by making the climate crisis worse. It is the SEC’s job to keep corporations from hiding their contribution to the climate crisis and environmental destruction or from lying to the public about their role. Corporations also need to be honest about what they’re doing to stop climate change and how they are planning for a future affected by an accelerating climate crisis. Managers should also be expected to disclose to shareholders if their company is playing in politics. A company could face significant risk if it says one thing about its climate commitments in public, but in the background, it lobbies to upend efforts to address the climate crisis. Beyond climate-related issues, companies should also have to be clear about other material issues like whether their hiring practices genuinely aim to increase diversity and representation on their board, in what countries they pay taxes, how they treat their workforce, and what their human rights impacts are. The purpose of the stock market is to provide long-term funding for corporate growth and stability, not to provide short term gains for speculators and corporate executives. Shareholders and the public have a right to be informed of these sorts of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, and we call upon the SEC to require clear, standardized, and trustworthy information on these topics from all companies. Thank you for considering my comment. Sincerely, Timothy Bardell