The New York Stock Exchange has withdrawn a rule that Republicans said would have illegally implemented a radical environmentalist agenda and harmed national security.
On Wednesday, the NYSE announced that it would be withdrawing a proposed rule to the Securities and Exchange Commission that would have created a listing entity called a Natural Asset Company (NAC). A NAC would be empowered to control private and public lands by capturing “the intrinsic and productive value of nature” and block things like logging, herding, and drilling from happening on the land.
The proposed rule was opposed by a coalition of over two dozen Republican attorneys general and state financial officers who warned that the rule would be used to push a liberal political agenda. Republicans also said that foreign entities would be able to purchase and control what happens on public lands by designating it a NAC.
Utah Republican Treasurer Marlo Oaks said that he was pleased with the NYSE decision to withdraw the rule.
“The proposed creation of Natural Asset Companies is one of the greatest threats to rural communities in the history of our nation. Under the proposal, private interests, including foreign-controlled sovereign wealth funds, could use their capital to purchase or manage farmland, national and state parks, and other mineral-rich areas and stop essential economic activities like farming, grazing, and energy extraction,” he said in a statement obtained by The Daily Wire. “It is my hope this news signals an end to this horrible idea and that it does not resurface in other venues.”
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The SEC was considering the proposal to approve NACs and was scheduled to take public comment until January 18.
Derek Kreifels, the CEO of the State Financial Officers Foundation, said the consequences for America could have been “dire” if the rule had been accepted.
“I’m grateful for all who helped raise the alarm on this attempted land grab by climate alarmists, and thankful for today’s corrective from the NYSE, but we must continue to be vigilant in defending our communities and states from future efforts that would seek to upend what has made this country great in pursuit of radical political agendas,” he said.