DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and attorneys general from 24 additional states are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a stay on California emissions reporting laws. The states allege, in the amici curiae filed, the California laws would impose an “illegal greenhouse gas disclosure policy” and would cause “nightmarish compliance costs and liability on companies across the country.”

In 2023, California enacted laws that require businesses of a certain size to submit greenhouse gas emissions reports and reports on the measures the business planned to adopt to reduce their climate-related financial risk. The brief from the states said California is “trying to be the national regulator of American greenhouse gas emissions—but for many reasons it may not do so.”

The State of Iowa and several other states that also signed onto Bird’s brief, have already sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over a similar law that sought to impose emissions reporting standards. That case is still being litigated, but the attorneys general allege the California law seeks to step in and do the same thing the states objected to at the federal level.

The brief said the California law, which would impact businesses outside of the state with revenues above a certain level, requires businesses to express a “certain viewpoint on the highly controversial issue area of climate change.” It said even if a business believes the climate-related “doomsday scenarios” are unlikely, it has to submit reports about how it plans to respond to the effects of a changing climate. The brief alleges the California laws are illegal because they compel speech from these companies on a topic they may want to avoid speaking on.

It also alleges the laws would impose “irreparable economic harm on other states.” The brief estimates out-of-state businesses would incur “millions” in auditing and reporting costs for emissions that are outside of California’s borders. Businesses with more than $1 billion in annual revenue that do business in California are required by the law to disclose “comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions” along their supply chains. Business with $500 million in annual revenue that do business in the state will have to supply biennial climate-related financial risk reports that are publicly available.

California’s enacted Senate Bill 261 says climate change is affecting California communities and economy with wildfires, sea level rise, extreme droughts and extreme weather events. According to the California statute, mandatory disclosures set by law will help to “ensure a sustainable, resilient, and prosperous future” for the state.

Bird said in a news release Monday about the amici curiae that “California needs to stay in California.” The attorneys’ brief is in support of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America’s suit against the chair of the California Air Resources Board. The parties involved requested, Nov. 10, an emergency injunction prohibiting the enforcement of the California laws, which are set to go into effect Jan. 1, 2026.