—by Jaclyn Jaeger. E-mail Jaclyn at jjaeger@complianceweek.com.

It’s official: The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 3-2 today to publish an interpretive release, providing guidance to companies on its current disclosure requirements concerning climate change.

Chairman Mary Schapiro stressed that the SEC is not commenting or opining on the issue of climate change; rather the guidance is intend to “provide clarity and enhance consistency” to help companies decide what does and does not need to be disclosed.

Not all agreed with the release of the guidance. SEC Commissioner Kathleen Casey expressed particular concern about its timing with all the issues in the market today, and commented that it “sends a curious signal about the most pressing issues facing shareholders.”

In addition, Casey said the guide “falls outside our expertise and beyond our investor protection,” at a time when science and policy are increasingly in flux over the effects of climate change. “This guidance is premature at best,” she said.

Investor groups have long been pushing the SEC to issue guidance requiring companies to assess and disclose the risks they face from climate change. Casey argued, however, the interpretive release would, in fact, only cause more harm to investors by increasing their regulatory burdens.

SEC Commissioner Troy Paredes expressed all the same concerns as Casey. “Now is not the time to support climate change disclosure,” he concluded.

SEC Commissioners Luis Aguilar, Elisse Walter, and Schapiro strongly spoke in support of the interpretive release. Aguilar further noted that the guidance is only a “first step in where the Commission will begin to play a more proactive role.”

Compliance Week will have full coverage of the SEC’s decision on climate change in its Feb. 2 edition.