Eagle Forum President Kristen A. Ullman released the following statement in response to the Securities and Exchange Commission Notice of Withdrawal of Proposed Rule Change for Natural Asset Companies:
Americans across the country who believe in property rights and understand that the natural assets of our great land should not be for sale to the highest bidder, including foreign sovereign wealth funds, are grateful that the SEC has withdrawn this proposed rule today.
Thousands of concerned citizens submitted comments to the SEC expressing their opposition to the approval of these new investment vehicles. The purpose of NACs, according to their creators, would be to “hold the rights to the ecological performance (i.e., the value of natural assets and production of ecosystem services) produced by natural or working areas, such as national reserves or large-scale farmlands, and have the authority to manage the areas for conservation, restoration, or sustainable management.”
In other words, this means that NAC could license the rights to manage both public and private lands as long as they do not conduct any ‘unsustainable activities’, such as mining, farming, drilling, or grazing that lead to the degradation of the ecosystems. If approved, the NACs would hurt the United States’ ability to not only enjoy public lands like our fantastic National Parks but would potentially hurt our ability to be energy-independent and harm our domestic food supply.
Not only would NACs cause economic harm, but they open the door to serious national security implications. Russian, Chinese, or Saudi sovereign wealth funds would have been allowed to invest in NACs. Their interest would have been to hurt our food and energy security and lock up U.S. natural resources.
Eagle Forum is delighted that the SEC withdrew the Proposed Rule today. Our message to the SEC, the NYSE, and the Intrinsic Exchange Group (IEG), the private company that “advises public sector and private landowners on the creation of NAC structures and strategies,” is that the right to manage America’s lands — as well as our waterways and even the air we breathe — is not for sale. Not to businesses and foreign countries seeking to profit from the “sustainability” racket by locking up public and private lands from productive use. We are committed to protecting not only our property rights but our nation’s ability to use our lands to provide food, energy, and recreation to all Americans.
