Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has led a coalition of 25 states in filing an emergency legal brief challenging new California laws set to take effect on January 1, 2026. The group argues that the regulations impose significant reporting requirements on businesses across the country, regardless of their level of activity in California.
The contested laws require companies with at least $500 million in annual revenue, as well as any business operating in California, to disclose detailed information about their climate change policies and plans for addressing potential climate-related scenarios. Additionally, the mandates extend to requiring companies to report both direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions—including those from suppliers and customers—which opponents say will result in high compliance costs and increased liability.
Attorney General Bird criticized the measures, stating: “California needs to stay in California. California has no right to tell Iowa or any other state what to do. Their attempt to continually tell other states and businesses how to do business outside California is radical overreach and needs to be stopped,” said Attorney General Bird. “We are leading 25 states to ask the Court to step in and protect our free market from the tyranny of California.”
The legal action is supported by attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
The full text of the legal brief can be found at this link.
