Casten Applauds President Biden for Executive Order to Address Climate Risk
Washington, DC – Today U.S. Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) released the following statement after President Biden announced an Executive Order directing federal agencies to analyze and mitigate the risk climate change poses to the economy.
Casten said, "As someone who's fought tirelessly for federal action on climate risk since I've been in Congress, I am thrilled to see President Biden take action to ensure that the right rules are in place to properly analyze and mitigate climate risks, equip agencies with a more comprehensive understanding of the problem, and pave the way for further regulatory action.
"The billions of dollars in damages from wildfires, blackouts, and superstorms this past year make clear that much more must be done to safeguard the financial security of American families and businesses from rapidly accelerating climate change risk," Casten continued. "It's past time our regulators caught up with the rest of the world and positioned the United States to lead the global economy. Equipped with the mandate in President Biden's Executive Order to examine and mitigate climate-related financial risk by disclosing these risks to the public, federal regulators must now work together to ensure concrete actions are taken and regulations are put into place."
The Executive Order would:
- Develop a Whole-of-Government Approach to Mitigating Climate-Related Financial Risk,
- Encourage Financial Regulators to Assess Climate-Related Financial Risk,
- Bolster the Resilience of Life Savings and Pensions,
- Modernize Federal Lending, Underwriting, and Procurement, and
- Reduce the Risk of Climate Change to the Federal Budget.
A fact sheet on the Executive Order can be found here.
"I've long advocated that the status quo doesn't sufficiently address the risks to our system and that regulatory action is necessary to accurately account for climate-related financial risk," Casten continued. "Since entering Congress, I've introduced three different pieces of legislation which help improve the ability of federal regulators to mitigate risks from climate change within the financial system and empower the American public to make informed financial decisions."
- Last week, the House Financial Services Committee voted to pass Casten's Climate Risk Disclosure Act of 2021, legislation he introduced with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to reduce the chances of environmental and financial catastrophe by requiring public companies to disclose more information about their exposure to climate-related risks. By increasing market transparency, this bill will empower investors to appropriately assess climate-related risks and help the market transition from fossil fuels to cleaner and more sustainable energy sources.
- Casten and U.S. Senator Feinstein (D-CA) introduced the Addressing Climate Financial Risk Act, new legislation to improve the ability of federal regulators to understand and mitigate risks from climate change within the financial system. A broad coalition for financial organizations have expressed their support for the legislation.
- Last Congress, Casten and U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), introduced and plans to reintroduce the Congress the Climate Change Financial Risk Act of 2019 to direct the Federal Reserve to conduct stress tests on large financial institutions to measure their resilience to climate-related financial risks.
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