Jan. 16, 2024
I am an ordinary citizen. I am not rich and I am not poor. I have worked at a federal job all my working years. I am asking the SEC to NOT allow the NYSE to list Natural Asset Companies pursuant to File No. SR-NYSE-2023-09. Our nation is rich in natural resources but they are not for sale. The resources belong to all citizens by law and not to a select few that have money. Selling the resources will degrade their value and open them up to management by out-of-US investors and investors who have no experience in natural resource management. The air we breathe is not for sale! Private land resources cannot be taken over by NACs because they bought the air, or vegetation, or soil. Public lands belong to all Americans and are managed for the interests of all Americans. The US already has laws that protect and conserve natural resources. The resources are naturally ever changing, nature is never static. If a stand of trees is not thinned the trees will eventually burn by wildfire. Same with grass, forb, and shrub vegetation. This burning pollutes the air and erodes the soil. Locking up vast tracts of land by NACs will spell disaster in the near term for natural resources and will have a cumulative effect on resources not owned by the NAC which will result in litigation. In other words you will be creating a big mess physically and socially. Selling the resources violates land use laws that are in effect and violates the very foundation of private land ownership. I recreate on public land. Passing this rule will eliminate my recreation activities. This causes me great harm. The climate change science does not show that eliminating hiking on public land will make any difference to the natural fluctuations of climate over the millenia. Please do the right thing for all ordinary Americans who must depend on the institutions that govern our nation. The right thing in case you are unclear is to say "no" to financializing natural resources, to say "no" to NACs on the NYSE. This is politically motivated and is designed to make the rich richer and the ordinary poor. -- Mesia Nyman