Jun. 07, 2022
Dear Special Counsel Staffin, This will be another great step toward the communist goals of creating shortages, increasing prices, and eliminating the middle class. It is more of a way to control the energy and food supplies for everyone except federal government elites. It has almost nothing to with the environment, else volcano emissions and wild fire carbon spewing must also be accounted for and stopped by the would-be gods of environmental control. As a farmer, I do support stewardship of our natural resources, and work hard to leave our land and water in better shape for future generations, but this absurd proposal is yet another governmental over-reach power grab over the "little people" who feed America and the world. Agriculture has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 24% since 1990, while also increasing production to feed, clothe and fuel an ever-growing population. The people making such proposals pretty obviously know nothing about food production. These new requirements will greatly increase the costs of publicly traded companies who will pass their costs on to farmers. Recording every drop of fuel, pound of feed and gallon of propane used at each step on the farm will be wildly expensive and burdensome for any farmer to comply with, especially for small family farmers. A rule like this will also be incredibly invasive, forcing farmers like me to hand data over to the SEC that would tell it nearly every single detail about my business. We in agriculture are committed to producing more while using fewer inputs. The best way to achieve this goal is a continuation of voluntary, market-driven approaches, not heavy-handed government mandates. I already average roughly an hour every day complying with one government mandate or another stemming from the state and federal levels. To avoid harm to my industry and increased supply chain volatility, the SEC should immediately halt the development of this short-sighted rule. Bottom line, it is incredibly not well thought out and truly stupid. Sincerely, Larry Warren