For Immediate Release: January 8, 2024
Contact: R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard
Phone: 406-252-2516; r-calfusa@r-calfusa.com
Opinion-Editorial by R-CALF USA Director Shad Sullivan
Below please find an op-ed by R-CALF USA Region V Director and Private Property Rights Committee Chair Shad Sullivan.
Natural Asset Company Proposed Rule Threatens Property Rights
Quietly, on September 29, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission, at the request of the New York Stock Exchange, proposed a rule to create a new type of company called a Natural Asset Company (NAC). According to the proposed rule, a NAC would “hold the rights to ecological performance,” giving these companies license to control the management of both public and private lands through quantifying and monetizing natural outputs such as air and water. In other words, NACs would use the air you breathe as currency.
Under the guise of climate change, NACs would make this “control” mechanism profitable without the actual use of the land itself. By monetizing and leveraging the management of these natural outputs their war cry of “ecological performance” would fall under the rules of sustainable development. “Natural assets” would now belong to corporations that are potentially run by special interest groups such as The Nature Conservancy and the World Wildlife Fund, thereby requiring all production tied to the land to fall under the sustainability rules established by these non-governmental organizations.
It doesn’t stop there. Land belonging to sovereign nations like the United States of America and private landowners can be subject to the control of NACs. For example, China could invest in a NAC which would effectively create their stakeholder position in a national or state park, placing them off limits for any kind of production or resource development. It is also possible that private landowners could involuntarily cede control of their land to NACs, such as through the rules of a conservation easement or other program that a current or previous landowner has participated or is participating in.
So, what is the motive behind all this? The answer is power and money, and…total control.
It appears the government intends to hand control over natural assets to the NACs as reports indicate that plans are underway to track the values of natural assets and place them on a federal balance sheet. It is also reported that a new accounting framework has been created by the Rockefeller-founded Intrinsic Exchange Group (IEG) because traditional NACs could not withstand the scrutiny required under general accounting principles, possibly leading to an artificially created economy four times larger than today’s entire economy.
The IEG admits that “producing these essential goods and services and managing resources wisely is as valuable, or perhaps even more valuable, than food production.” Without question, this is a part of the Biden administration’s 30×30 agenda – a land grab designed to secure 30 percent of America’s land and waters for conservation and preservation by 2030. Ultimately, this would allow the federal government, questionable investors, and perhaps international extremist groups to massively profit off of America’s natural outputs while simultaneously gaining control over them.
In December, President Biden and Vice-President Harris announced an international partnership initiative called Landsat 2030 International Partnership Initiative. This partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA, both members of the Working Group for Biden’s National Strategy to Develop Statistics for Environmental-Economic Decisions, will help them understand and track changes in the condition and economic value of land, water, air and other natural outputs. In short, it is satellite data collection on every square inch of earth and its sole purpose is to create an asset base for an investment product such as a NAC.
The American Stewards of Liberty group, however, recognized quickly that NACs are a direct threat to energy, mining, and agricultural production on land across America saying, “It is the fleecing of American’s property rights, consolidation of power, and transfer of wealth on an international scale.”
The SEC extended the public comment period for its NAC proposal to January 18, 2024.
In response to the recent comment period extension, Congresswoman Harriet Hageman (R-WY) stated, “I encourage all of you to weigh in on this potentially devastating effort to securitize our national heritage lands and private property rights! This development just goes to show that we should never give up, and that our voices do matter.” Thirty-one members of the House of Representatives joined Hageman in a letter successfully demanding a longer comment period.
Representative Hageman and American Stewards of Liberty have worked closely with R-CALF USA on property rights issues in the past, each with the understanding that the foundation of liberty rests on the shoulders of private property rights. It is essential that Americans weigh in on the extended comment period by January 18.
Comments can be submitted here: https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro/sr-nyse-2023-09
More information about the NAC proposal can be found at https://americanstewards.us/.
Shad Sullivan is the Region V Director and Private Property Rights Committee Chair of R-CALF USA, the nation’s largest non-profit trade association exclusively representing cattle farmers and ranchers.
Shad Sullivan photo available here.
###
Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) is the largest producer-only cattle trade association in the United States. It is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle and sheep industries. For more information visit www.r-calfusa.com or call (406) 252-2516.
