Washington, D.C. (RELEASE) January 17th, 2024 — Today, Senate Western Caucus Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Congressional Western Caucus Chair Dan Newhouse (R-WA) sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) citing serious concerns about a recent proposal to amend the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Listed Company Manual to adopt listing standards for Natural Asset Companies (NACs).
The proposal would allow NACs to list on the NYSE and raise capital to purchase the rights to natural assets, enabling NACs to restrict mining, grazing, logging, recreation and other economic development on any public or private lands purchased by NACs.
“This administration has proven it will stop at nothing to force its extreme left-wing energy policies on the west by any means necessary, and this latest decision to classify western lands as environmental investments is the Biden administration’s newest land grab attempt,” said Lummis. “Let’s be clear, this isn’t about sustainability, it is blatant greenwashing that awards significant capital to so-called environmental groups who exist solely to sue the federal government every time it issues a permit. As the Senate Western Caucus Chair, I am proud to join the House Western Caucus Chair Dan Newhouse in fighting to protect our western landscapes by protecting the public lands on which our constituents rely from green new deal radicals who seek to erode the pioneer spirit.”
“The proposal to list natural asset companies on the New York Stock Exchange is a threat to the multiple-use mandate and our western way of life,” said Newhouse. “Under this proposal, NACs can be weaponized by extreme environmental activists and foreign nationals to lock up public lands from resource development, grazing, recreation and other uses, threatening economic prosperity in rural communities and curtailing domestic energy production. That’s why I joined Senate Western Caucus Chair Lummis in urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to reject this proposal and defend our public lands from Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) enthusiasts.”
