" If we lose our right to own property, we will lose more than just our land. We lose our freedom of speech, religion, self-defense, and all other personal liberties that allow each of us to pursue our American dream.... we will cease to be the land of the free."
As I dug deeper in research to this Green Amendment I became attuned to other articles and interviews along the same path of what I am now calling 'environmental lawfare'. This would include (but not limited to) the lawsuits I wrote about in the previous segments but the efforts of American Stewards to fight this takeover as well as a nifty little piece of legislation slipped into an Appropriations Bill known as The Sustains Act. A nasty bit of legislation that dangles a fat check in the faces of desperate farmers to allow their land to go fallow and a pact with the Feds to never do anything with that land, ever again.
If we couple such legislation with the power of a Green Amendment then anyone is susceptible to a lawsuit pursuant to the language expressed in The Sustains Act AND activists' groups like Youth Plaintiffs of Montana. You could lose your land if you simply decide to no longer partake in receiving your yearly check from Uncle Sam but would rather go back to actual farming because prices for your corn, hay, wheat, grapes, tomatoes have increased . Green Amendment watchdogs could file a lawsuit because you tilled your fields and spread fertilizer thus endangering the right of the people to clean soil, water and air (especially if you use liquified manure as they do here in Connecticut).
11 States are lined up to consider adopting The Green Amendment. New Jersey is closest to passing it.
The Sierra Club.
https://www.sierraclub.org/new-jersey/blog/2024/03/new-jerseyans-one-step-closer- gaining-right-clean-safe-environment-through
"....empower New Jerseyans to fight for their rights, it will provide them with the legal mechanism to do so." NJ Sierra Club Chapter Director, Anjuli Ramos-Busot. And with New York as a model that will "Invite novel environmental litigation.." I am sure New Jersey Green Amendment people will have no problem inventing ways to sue companies. Add to it Montana that not only was granted the ability to sue NorthWestern Energy, HELL! They sued the Montana government as well for issuing the permits! And they didn't even have to prove any one was directly (or indirectly) negatively affected.
Sierra Club makes no bones about supporting, endorsing and sending checks to candidates they like. There are a number of PAC's that do just that for whatever issue they support or oppose. But a key player in moving along Environmental legislation (specifically) The Green Amendment would be NCEL. The National Caucus for Environmental Legislators.
Breaking Down State Green Amendments | National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (ncelenviro.org)
Ahhh, politicians! Don't let an 80,000 plus page book of laws, rules and regulations get in the way of utilizing MORE of your tax dollars to form a Caucus so they can pass more laws, rules and regulations. But hey! Lets streamline the process and just get the states to pass an Amendment! NCEL lists The Green Amendments for The Generations (Maya Rossum) as a non-profit. That means it is a 501C-3. They get money through grants (tax dollars). But where does the lawsuit money go after they win? It seems the various states where Green Amendments have been adopted the very first thing the group does is find a target to sue. Does the money pay for more lawyers, outreach, activism? In the map above there are 11 states considering the Amendment. That is a lot of political action. Wouldn't that be considered more of a 527 PAC? What does this mean for landowners? Does a Green Amendment imply that my actions on my property may affect my neighbor? Possibly. But do my neighbor's sensibilities override my right to develop my land as I see fit? I am not talking about emptying your septic tank in the brook behind your house because that brook runs down to a local swimming area. That is just being an asshole! And while environmental history is full of examples of companies dumping toxic waste those issues do not exist anymore here in the United States. We have decades of laws and regulations that ensure compliance with EPA, DEQE, OSHA and various local inspectors. The drive to restrict the use of private property is at the center of such movements as The Sustains Act and 30x30. Another is The Conservation Stewardship program. You get to have your own personal government agent come to your farm to 'advise' you on how best to NOT develop your land. With a big fat check in his/her briefcase you too can be part of better, healthier environment. Conservation Stewardship Program | Natural Resources Conservation Service (usda.gov)
"The program represents a genuine commitment to conservation – CSP contracts are for five years, with the opportunity to compete for a contract renewal if you successfully fulfill the initial contract and agree to achieve additional conservation objectives. An NRCS conservation planner will work closely with you, throughout the entire contract process.
Contract payments are based on two components:
- Payments to maintain the existing level of conservation, based on the land uses included in the contract and an NRCS assessment of existing stewardship at the time of enrollment, and
- Payments to implement additional conservation activities.
Most participants will be eligible for a $4000 minimum payment during any year that their total annual contract payment falls below the minimum payment amount. "
"CSP offers annual payments for implementing these practices on your land and operating and maintaining existing conservation efforts. Want to take it a step further? CSP also offers bundles where you can select a suite of enhancements and receive a higher payment rate."
Oh Goody! I get MORE money if I do even LESS with my farm!
Didn't Roosevelt do something like this back during the Great Depression?
And just why does the government want to incentivize this non-use (and eventual acquisition) of land? Why does a Green Amendment empower activists to sue you if you want to lease your land to oil or gas drilling?
From the website: https://americanstewards.us/issues/why-property-rights-matter/
"Lands already owned by the government are becoming increasingly restricted and off-limits for productive uses such as recreation, hunting and fishing, livestock grazing, timber harvesting, mineral development, and oil and gas production. The government must lock down these resources because they are the collateral that backs our growing national debt owed to foreign nations."
And does Maya Rossum and the glossy eyed activists think that China will give a shit about your 'rights' to clean air and soil and water when our bill comes due to the CCP and they clear cut our National forests and mine every rock until all that is left is a wasteland resembling the surface of Mars?
Maybe you can take them to court Maya! Good luck with that!
....And That Is The Diatribe....
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