by Angel Cushing, originally written for W.I.F.E.
September 2025, Volume 3
The new administration is rolling back Net Zero by 2050, the Climate Justice policies and the work of previous administrations to lock away thirty percent of the United States’ land and water from the American people by the year 2030.
Some of the private partners and a few federal agencies have not quite gotten the message as of this writing. For example, I am still taking phone calls from several communities facing eminent domain for Green Energy infrastructure projects such as expanded transmission corridors or energy storage facilities. I am also seeing surveys regarding new target areas for solar energy sites, and I am still hearing from state representatives about lobby efforts for wind and solar projects in their districts.
Developers of Green New Deal projects will continue to find creative ways to finance the coveting of property. One example is explained by Trent Loos in an interview with the Rope Report. Here, he discusses the scheme of mortgaging easements to finance development.
Internationally, climate change organizations are hoping they can just ride out this administration and return to U. S. involvement in four years. One organization who seems to be adopting that strategy is 350.org. They are planning mass demonstrations from September 19th – 21st. This will coincide with the United Nations International Day of Peace. 350.org is just one of the many organizations who will participating in events all over the world to push the Green New Deal Agenda.
Key points that are worthy of your investigation are:
H.R. 2773, The Landowners Rights Act by Representative Hageman. This bill asks to expire all new conservation easements after 30 years. I expect this bill to be lobbied against heavily. Perpetual Conservation Easements are a financial asset that can be bought, sold and traded unless the contract forbids it. I am sure those contracts do exist, though I have never seen one. Most importantly, Perpetual Conservation Easements can be mortgaged against giving the owners of the Conservation Easement access to cash by taking out a loan and using the Easement as collateral.
Reconsideration of emissions standards on vehicles. This administration has proposed elimination of Obama era emissions standards on all vehicles. The EPA is requesting comments on proposal. This is the REGEN and DEF requirements on vehicles.
Using my own family as an example: These standards increased the purchase cost of my diesel pick-up by $6,000. Twice, a sensor went bad and kicked the computer into environment protection. I could not go more than 3 miles per hour. The last time, I was pulling a full load of alfalfa with an unpredicted storm building and heading in my direction. If I were to purchase a delete kit, it would cost me an additional $6,000 and I would have to purchase it on the black market. Either from a convict who has already been convicted of making delete kits or from an individual hiding from prosecution for making delete kits. Any warranty would be canceled, and an inspection could lead to prosecution for having a delete kit on my pick-up. Needless to say, there are a lot of criminals driving in the U.S.A., guilty of the crime of wanting to earn a paycheck. September 15 is the comment deadline.
Data Centers are the new fad. No one has asked how many we have in the United States nor how many are needed. With this administration’s blessing, it appears that every investor and developer wants to build one. Data centers use a lot of water. Some are proposed to drink more than 2 million gallons a day. Right now, the average is about 300,000 gallons a day. The water is needed for the cooling systems. There are other alternatives to cooling the centers, however, the alternatives are more expensive or create noise complaints. The use of eminent domain for data centers are expected as community leaders are courted by developers and investors.
Carbon Trading, Carbon Farming (a new spin on Natural Asset Trading) and carbon capture and storage are still marching on in the United States but, are at a much slower pace than in other countries. I expect many of these Net Zero and Green New Deal schemes will start pleading with the individual states for financial investment as the federal funds continue to dry up.
Finally, climate lockdowns are still being explored. Climate Change activists, organizations and governments claim that climate lockdowns are a conspiracy. Canadians, however, are questioning the policies in Nova Scotia. Their activities are being restricted to prevent forest fires. Is this the introduction of Climate lockdowns?
Remember, we should all be in favor of our neighbor’s right to explore and build, however, none of us should be forced to pay for the endeavors with our taxes. We must never let anyone shame us for demanding community involvement in projects that are built by community dollars. Nor should any of us be forced to give up rights to our own property for the transmission infrastructure needed for our neighbor’s project. The neighbor’s property rights end at their property boundary.