Posted by
The Rural Insurgent on Friday, January 30, 2009 2:07:16 PM
I attended a so-called "Public Hearing" in Blacksburg, Virginia last Fall, one that required no less than seven phone calls and extensive research to determine its location, date and time, only to sit through a day-long and one sided litany by groups of invited speakers on the Global Warming hysteria on which Virginia's (and America's) Energy and Tax Policies will be based.
The only way these people look at the issue is how to create new taxes and added costs on Landowners, without looking at the benefits OF THE LAND ITSELF, and how to allow the Landowners to profit from these benefits. In other words, they want to make you pay Carbon Taxes or buy Carbon Credits (from whom, one might ask!), but offer no option for you, as Landowners, to sell Carbon Credits, or collect Carbon Royalties as an offset derived FROM THE LAND ITSELF.
I spoke to deaf ears at this Hearing regarding the Rights of Rural Landowners in this issue, and now realize that pro-active measures are necessary to preserve our Land Ownership Rights and our way of life in Virginia, and all of America.
It is my contention that since as Landowners we have the right to sell subdivide, or lease the land itself, and own the appurtenant mineral rights, hunting, timber and fishing rights thereto. Therefore given the Supreme Court's decision that Carbon, as such, is a pollutant, shouldn't the owners of rural undeveloped and agricultural lands have the unfettered right to sell or lease "Carbon Credits", or collect "Carbon-Sink Royalties" on a Free-Market basis?
In mid-December I sent a request for information to the local Cooperative Extension Office in my County. I requested data on the oxygen-producing and carbon-absorption tonnage capacities of Open and Forested Rural Land in order to determine the per-acre cash value for such carbon royalty or credit payments on my land. I have yet to get a reply.
Why not require that State Environmental Protection Agencies make determinations of the carbon-absorption and oxygen-production tonnage capacities per acre of all undeveloped rural and agricultural lands? This would create an impetus to either offer Landowners a Carbon Royalty Program or provide them with scientific data on the Carbon Credit Value of their land, thus empowering them to sell or lease these Credits at a fair-market rate. Armed with this information, a free market will inevitably crop up for the lease, sale and trade of these Credits.
It is my belief that this proposal will provide fairness in the way in which these Carbon costs are distributed, as Rural Landowners will now have an income stream from which to pay the added costs. Note as well the additional benefit to the States and Counties in the form of income and property taxes. This income potential will add value to the land which will naturally translate to higher land values, thus preserving the rural property tax base.
I am urging that all of you look into this subject, along with your Representatives in the State and Federal Legislatures, as this is a prime issue for us to take up in defense of fairness and Americanism. As you are surely aware, there is a developing momentum for even higher energy costs to be imposed on us, and this burden will fall in a grossly inequitable way on rural areas. With the EPA and State Environmental Officials constantly burdening farmers and ranchers with silly and costly regulations, this proposal would create an income option for such individuals, and perhaps negate the need for Farm Subsidy payments as even fallow land would still produce a level of income derived from the free market, rather than from government subsidies.
This fair and sensible Proposal would be of great benefit to Rural Americans. We must act quickly on this initiative to allow rural, "Red State" Americans to benefit from the new Carbon Tax proposals. There is a screaming need for one that is based on American Free Market Economic Principles.