Direct Lobbying Transparency
| Overall Assessment | Comment | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Comprehensive | Steel Dynamics Inc. provides extensive and specific information about its climate-policy lobbying. It names multiple concrete initiatives it seeks to influence, including Federal Buy Clean provisions under the Inflation Reduction Act, the Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum, guidance being developed by the SBTi Steel Expert Advisory Group, and the Global Steel Climate Council’s proposed measurement standard, clearly demonstrating the breadth of its policy engagement. The company is equally clear on how and where it lobbies: it outlines “meetings, presentations at conferences/seminars, information sharing through press releases and our website,” notes that it “participated in GSA Industry Discussions in 2022 related to developing Federal Buy Clean policies through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA),” joined the “SBTi’s Steel Expert Advisory Group (EAG),” and held “bi-monthly meetings to provide guidance on the U.S. position” with trade negotiators at the U.S. Trade Representative’s office—each example pairing a specific mechanism with an identified government or standard-setting target. The company also spells out the concrete outcomes it is pursuing: it opposes “higher limits based upon the steelmaking method” in the interim IRA Low-Embodied-Carbon rules because such limits “disincentivize and delay decarbonization,” advocates adoption of “a single standard, as proposed in the GSCC Steel Climate Standard,” and supports provisions in the U.S.–EU Global Arrangement that would tackle non-market excess capacity and lower carbon intensity. This level of detail across policies, mechanisms, and desired outcomes reflects a comprehensive degree of transparency around its climate-related lobbying activities. | 4 |