Alexandra Thornton is the senior director of Tax Policy for Economic Policy at American Progress.
Before joining American Progress, Thornton was the executive vice president for policy, planning, and business affairs at the Jane Goodall Institute, where she advised the founder on international conservation issues and functioned as the institute’s general counsel. Previously, she was the executive director of a tax and economic policy nonprofit that focused on environmental taxation issues.
Thornton moved to the nonprofit world after spending nearly a decade as tax policy adviser to a U.S. senator who served on the Senate Finance Committee. In that position, she successfully shepherded the senator’s legislative initiatives through nine major tax and budget bills and also provided counsel on trade, banking, and securities issues.
Thornton began her career as a litigator practicing in Washington, D.C. She earned a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the College of William and Mary.
The SEC’s Proposed Scope 3 Emissions Disclosure Will Not Affect Farms and Ranches
The SEC’s proposal to require certain large public companies to disclose their indirect greenhouse gas emissions, such as those from suppliers, is unlikely to affect farms and ranches.
Congress Must Not Provide Statutory Carveouts for Crypto Assets
Crypto assets are subject to existing federal statutes, and regulators should enforce those laws just as Congress has authorized; meanwhile, Congress should focus on filling in the statutory gaps.
The SEC’s Scope 3 Climate Emissions Rule Should Not Be Based on Materiality
The SEC’s forthcoming rule on climate risk disclosures should be released expeditiously and, among other items, require concrete and specific disclosure of a company’s Scope 3 emissions.
The SEC Should Write Its Own Environmental, Social, and Governance Rules
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission faces legal risks, as well as policy and administrative issues, if it delegates ESG standard-setting authority to a third party.
Race and gender diversity on corporate boards is unacceptably low, but better corporate practices and SEC engagement could help accelerate progress toward more diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The current moment demands that the SEC add specific human capital metrics to its current disclosure regime to provide investors, other market participants, and the public reliable, consistent, and comparable information about companies’ management of their workers.
The SEC Has Broad Authority To Require Climate and Other ESG Disclosures
Increasing demand for companies to provide enhanced disclosures on climate-related and other environmental, social, and governance matters has raised questions about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s authority to require disclosures. That authority is broad and not limited to materiality.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should begin using its authority to mandate climate-related disclosures in order to address climate-related risks to investors, the economy, and the public.
