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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Vote Coming on Bill to Make Big Companies Disclose Carbon Emissions

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Monday, August 22, 2022   

A big floor vote in the State Assembly is expected this week or early next on a bill that would require mega-corporations that do business in California to report the full scope of their greenhouse-gas emissions.

Backers say Senate Bill 260 should increase transparency and accountability.

Melissa Romero - senior legislative manager with California Environmental Voters (Envirovoters) - said the data would give the public, shareholders, and policymakers insight into the progress companies are making to reduce their carbon footprint.

"It's also really critical information that the public does not have right now," said Romero. "And we know that consumers really want to do the right thing. They want to buy from sustainable companies."

The bill requires public and private corporations that make more than a billion dollars a year to disclose carbon emissions up and down the supply chain following the international greenhouse-gas protocol, and verify those emissions via a third party.

It also lays out fines if they don't comply. Opponents call the bill a burdensome regulation that would give competitors insight into business practices.

Romero said the bill will thwart companies trying to "greenwash" their image, and will help them set a course toward net-zero emissions.

"And without actually knowing what their greenhouse-gas emissions are," said Romero, "and whether or not they're making progress over time and reducing those. There's really no information to hold them accountable. There's no transparency."

The legislative session ends on August 31. The bill already has passed the State Senate.

If it passes the assembly, it would have to go back to the Senate for a concurrence vote before heading to the governor's desk. The bill goes farther than a similar federal proposal before the Securities and Exchange Commission, which would cover only publicly traded companies.




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