Hageman Rips Head Of SEC For Rule To Allow Foreign Land ‘Rights’
Harriet Hageman is hot over a proposed SEC rule that would allow foreign nations to buy undefined “rights” to certain private and public lands.
By Leo Wolfson | December 15, 2023
(cowboystatedaily.com) – U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman signed a letter with 31 other members of Congress on Friday demanding answers from the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about a newly proposed rule that would allow buying and selling of undefined “rights” to certain private and public lands, including to foreign nations.
The SEC proposal would let investors buy into the stock market companies trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for the purpose of protecting nature — including public lands — and making money.
The proposal, if passed, would clear the way for the NYSE to offer this new kind of investment known as “natural asset companies,” or NACs.
More Than ESG
The idea is to list companies with environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) commitments to public or privately owned lands, and then put a monetary value to the resulting benefits, such as clean air or wildlife habitat.
To qualify as an NAC, a corporation would need to show how it’s improving the lands in its portfolio, which could include “conservation, restoration or sustainable management.”
The rule states that despite the rising prevalence of ESG in the marketplace, “investors still express an unmet need for efficient, pure-play exposure to nature and climate.”
Once in control of the land, NACs will be prohibited from engaging in “unsustainable activities” like energy production, logging and grazing; however, farming would still be allowed.
Hageman said the purpose of this rule is to end all economic activity on the lands.
“This misguided ‘rule’ has the potential to fundamentally change U.S. land access, management, use and ownership as we know it,” she said in a Friday press release. “As if that weren’t bad enough, the rule places no limits on who can buy these lands – China, Russia, Iran, and other bad actors would be free to participate and shut down U.S. energy and mineral production.”
Concerns about foreign nationals like China buying up land in America has become an increasing concern in recent years.…
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h/t WeAreNotTheFirst