There is a new government proposal that Glenn believes is "horrifying." The SEC proposal would allow for the creation of a new type of company called a "natural asset company," which could buy up land to use natural processes — like the generation of fresh air — to write off carbon emissions. Utah Treasurer Marlo Oaks joins to explain what he believes this would mean: "It will permanently stop economically essential activities like grazing, mineral extraction, modern agriculture ... we're basically talking about the destruction of rural America."
Transcript
Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors
GLENN: Marlo Oaks. Welcome to the program, sir.
MARLO: Thank you, good to be here, Glenn.
GLENN: Thank you very much, and thank you for alerting me to this. This is horrifying. This is a new SEC proposal to allow for a creation of a new type of company.
Tell us about it.
MARLO: Yeah. Yeah. So basically a natural asset company. And really, the heart of the problem is that it will permanently stop economically essential activities like grazing, mineral extraction. Modern agriculture. Severely curtailed recreational access. We're basically talking about the destruction of rural America.
And really, it's an effort to take control of America's natural resources.
This could be done through these natural asset companies. From hostile nations that put money into these.
And we're essentially placing a value on natural processes.
Things like, you know, the -- the biological systems. That provide clean air.
Water.
Food. Things like that.
Putting an economic value on those. It's really an arbitrary value. And that represents massive transfer of wealth.
GLENN: This is just another scam. This is another financial scam. To make people a lot of money.
But this one, you know, unlike the scams that cost us, you know, almost our freedom last time in 2008. This one, actually if it goes through, if you buy let's say, this stock, in this -- in this company, you then can -- you would be giving the money to buy up the rights of all the minerals.
And even like the air.
And you can't -- and you can't develop it. It's a forest. And there's lots of clean air that's being generated. Right?
MARK: That's exactly right.
And so basically, the New York Stock Exchange, went to the security and exchange commission, said, we need a rule that will allow us to lift companies whose purposes isn't to make money, it's to provide ecologically services. And what are those ecologically services?
Well, it is the biological systems that are creating clean air.
So think of a forest. Right?
Taking carbon out of the air and converting it into oxygen. What is that worth?
What are underground aquifers worth? You know, the water that seeps into the ground and creates clean water.
It's those kinds of what we think of, as God-given processes, that are now going to be monetized in some way. And people who own these companies, who put money into these companies.
They stand to benefit from that. At the expense of our country.
GLENN: So now are they -- let's say -- let's say I'm a landowner. And I have farmland, and I have a forest.
Do I participate in this?
Do I have to say, yes, my everything is up for sale? Or is this just kind of like air rights in New York where you're just buying the rights of air?
MARK: Well, there is, you know, from ESG. The climate crisis is really driving the ESG environmental social governance discussion. It's the same thing here. And there's a push, really an attack on energy. Agriculture.
GLENN: Right.
MARLO: And so when we look at agriculture, we're seeing the squeezing of ranchers.
And these natural asset companies.
Ban what's called industrial agriculture.
Which is essentially all agriculture that happens around the globe. Because that -- that is what producers the yields that are needed to feed the world population.
And so if you ban industrial agriculture, you're talking about something that happened in Sri Lanka. Which is the reduction of -- of rice harvests. Forty to 50 percent, leading to an 80 percent increase in prices there.
It -- civil unrest unbelievably there. And that's what we're talking about.
GLENN: So let me have a very western conversation with you. Most people in the East. They don't understand BLM land.
And that is not Black Lives Matter. That is Bureau of Land Management.
They own in the West a great portion of the -- the land that farmers use to graze their cattle on, because it's just open land.
And you pay a fee. And you can graze your cattle. Cattle on that land.
And the government is supposed to take care of it.
This would -- this company, this new natural asset company, would then not take control of the land, right?
It would just say, no grazing cattle on that land, because we need it pure for the carbon offset or whatever.
And so it would grab that. But could it grab -- could it grab my land, if I'm a farmer?
MARLO: Well, it could be inside of a designated area.
So right now, in Montana, the 5 million acres. They're trying -- the federal government. I have forgotten which agency it is. Designated 5 million acres.
They're trying to create a national monument out of this.
There's private land, within that.
So your land could be inside of a designated area.
And the government wouldn't necessarily, you know, buy your land. But you will end up with fewer options.
GLENN: Yeah. You won't have any roads maintained. You won't be able to expand. Or do anything. You might be able to be grandfathered into what you're doing right now. But nothing else, right? And the infrastructure will be left alone.
MARLO: Yes. That's right. And so even in the east. So in the east, you have -- you have conservation easements. So landowners in the east, have placed their lands in conservation easements. Which effectively means that no development can happen.
And they do this to get a task benefit. But over time, because it's in perpetuity. That land -- the use of the land, when you entered into a conservation easement cannot change.
But the subjective nature of creating a sustainable agriculture. Or sustainable land, going forward. Means that that land can be placed in a natural asset company.
These conservation easements can go into a natural asset company and -- without the landowner's consent, essentially.
And so this really effects people in the East and the West.
It's just under different --
GLENN: Wow. It --
MARLO: -- designation.
GLENN: Wow. Yeah. And it will affect all of us. Because our food prices will go through the roof.
MARLO: Absolutely.
GLENN: And good luck going to a national park.
Let me ask you this: How is the New York Stock Exchange pushing for this.
Because what the -- what this natural asset company, this new -- this whole new category.
It is noneconomic.
The land that they would buy, as a private entity, must support only replenishable activities.
So that means.
They can only replenish the land.
They can't have any economic activity on it.
It's assigned an arbitrary value. And then it's traded on that.
But this is a -- there's no -- you cannot make profit on this.
So who would be buying the stock for this?
Because you're not going to make money?
MARLO: Well, you're not going to make money through traditional economic activity. But if companies have to be net zero. Let's say.
GLENN: Ah.
MARLO: You're emitting a lot of carbon. Then you will have an incentive to buy into natural asset companies, that will provide potentially carbon offsets through these natural processes. That's one way to drive artificial value.
GLENN: So I'm putting a lot of pollution in the air. But if I buy part of Yellowstone or part of Montana that can no longer be developed, then I can use that and say, yeah, but I've got all these trees producing all this fresh air.
MARLO: Exactly.
GLENN: This is so evil. This is so incredibly evil.
MARLO: Yeah. We've got to -- we see natural processes as sort of God-given, right? And you and I are walking carbon-emitters. I mean, when we breathe out, we're emitting 4 percent carbon.
And so what happens when each of us individually have a carbon footprint that we have to offset? You know, the wealthy can easily do it.
They just go out and buy access. But it's the poor among us. Are they going to have to pay for their carbon emission and then that -- that is going to incentivize car reduction, you know, getting people out of cars and walking and bicycles and things like that?
You can see where this goes.
GLENN: Yeah. Most importantly, this gives a public/private partner ship a chance to enrich all of the very wealthy anyway.
And it is -- and it is like, what was it that almost brought us to 2008?
Derivatives.
It's like derivatives.
You're selling garbage.
You're not selling anything. Nobody really owns anything, if you keep selling, you know, these derivatives.
It's a scam. This is the same thing, at a global scale.
MARLO: Yep. Well, and you think about, what is America -- what's one of the greatest assets of America is our natural resources. They're incredible.
And this allows, not just wealthy investors. We're talking about countries like China or Russia. Or, you know, Iran. Whomever. That has a ton of money, in these sovereign wealth funds. To buy into a natural asset company. Because they will raise money globally.
GLENN: Oh, if I'm in China. And I want to cripple the United States. I just take West Texas, and I buy up all of it in one of these companies. And origin drill.
MARLO: That's right. That's exactly right.
GLENN: We're suicidal. We're absolutely suicidal.
Okay. So there is a public comment period, right? And it's right now. And it's been shortened. And surprise, everybody, during the holiday season. So for the average person, can they go online or call or what?
MARLO: Yes. Absolutely. So I'm telling people to contact their federal legislators. Their state legislators, you know, to have them reach out to the SEC. So people can reach out to the SEC, but also encourage your legislators to reach out to the SEC. And even the New York Stock Exchange. Contact your. Your attorney general, even the State Treasurer.
They need to take action to oppose this. And you can reach out to the SEC directly.
GLENN: Will it be too late after January? They say they will decide after January 2nd.
MARLO: Well, one of the decisions could be to extend the decision out further.
GLENN: Okay.
MARLO: So that's why I'm hoping, that we raise enough awareness and pushback that it makes it difficult for them to finalize this on January 2nd. But, you know -- the fuse is incredibly short.
GLENN: It's incredible.
MARLO: And it's by design.
GLENN: Of course, it is. Of course, it is. And once again, the destruction of everything that we -- what is America about, if you can't come here, buy a piece of land, and do what you want to do with it?
Well, what is America about? This goes back to agenda 2020. Agenda 2030. Where they're trying to push everybody into the cities.
And this will do it. This will do it.
MARLO: And this is the whole of government approach. You see all of these agencies. The Forest Service Station. Wildlife. BLM. You know, the Bureau of Land Management.
All of these agencies are pushing this agenda.
Now, the SEC -- right? And the SEC, of course, with ESG.
But this just takes it to a whole other level.
But you see the entire government apparatus pushing this goal to really permanently -- essential economic activity on our land and really lock up our natural resources.
It's incredibly disruptive.
GLENN: Marlo, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. We'll talk to you again.
Marlo Oaks. He's the Treasurer of Utah, who brought this to my attention.
It needs critical attention right now. We're going to have this section of the show clipped. We'll put it out online. Please, share it with everyone. Share it with every legislator. And senator you can find. Make sure they know about it. Make sure your friends know about it. This is a way to lock up all public and private lands. It is -- it's obscene and evil, and it's got to stop. And they will decide by January 20th, unless as he said, we kick up a storm and make sure that our ledgers, state and federal, are calling and saying, no, no, no. Not so fast. Not so fast. They've got to call the SEC. So here's the thing.
You are telling your congressman or whoever about the Natural Asset Company that the New York stong exchange is creating, along with the SEC.
The SEC, the Security and Exchange Commission, cannot allow for the creation of this kind of a company. They cannot do it.
