The Biden administration is forging ahead with a cryptic federal program to expand government control of property under the guise of combating “climate change.”
Skeptics say the program is a sinister land grab targeting 680 million acres nationwide disguised as environmental conservation, Breitbart reported Wednesday.
Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska has been leading the charge to oppose President Joe Biden’s so-called 30 x 30 executive order, which calls for the government to conserve at least 30 percent of all the land and water in the United States by 2030.
Ricketts said several counties in Nebraska — where 97 percent of the land is privately owned — have passed resolutions to block the initiative.
“More and more Nebraska counties are speaking out against President Joe Biden’s 30 x 30 land grab,” he tweeted.
Boone County has unanimously passed a #Stop30x30 resolution!
More and more Nebraska counties are speaking out against President Joe Biden’s 30 x 30 land grab.
Contact your county commissioners today and urge them to step up and make their voices heard. pic.twitter.com/Jv0QQneOtZ
— Gov. Pete Ricketts (@GovRicketts) August 30, 2021
Washington County just unanimously passed a #Stop30x30 resolution!
More and more Nebraska counties are speaking out against President @JoeBiden‘s 30 x 30 land grab.
Contact your county commissioners today and urge them to step up and make their voices heard. pic.twitter.com/QCWdqgELJF
— Gov. Pete Ricketts (@GovRicketts) May 26, 2021
The president announced his 30 x 30 program a week after being installed in the White House.
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In his Jan. 27 executive order, Biden openly declared that he’ll use the full power of the government to advance his radical climate agenda, which is to “deliver an equitable, clean energy future, and put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions” by 2050.
To achieve this goal, Biden vowed to take aggressive action “that combines the full capacity of the Federal Government with efforts from every corner of our Nation, every level of government, and every sector of our economy.”
A keystone of the 30 x 30 plan is federal control of large amounts of land across the country. It sets a goal of “conserving at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030.”
Not surprisingly, private landowners such as farmers and ranchers are disturbed by this move.
“While private owners have successfully stewarded our land and water here in Nebraska, new leadership in the White House wants more federal control,” Ricketts said in a June 8 news release.
“On January 27th, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14008, which set a goal of conserving 30% of the nation’s land and waters by 2030,” the governor said. “This requires restricting a land area the size of the State of Nebraska every year, each year, for the next nine years, or in other words a landmass twice the size of Texas by 2030.”
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Ricketts slammed the executive order as “radical,” saying the president has no constitutional authority to execute his plan.
He said landowners are especially concerned because Biden has shared few details about what exactly his program entails.
“So far, he has not defined what he even means by ‘conservation.’ Aside from vague platitudes, he has not revealed how he intends to implement his plan,” Ricketts wrote.
The governor also warned that the program will result in higher taxes.
“Unlike states in the western part of the country where there are already significant amounts of federally owned lands, 97% of land in Nebraska is privately owned,” he explained in the news release.
“Federally owned land is not taxed, and restrictions will reduce our ability to develop it for agriculture, infrastructure, or businesses. If 30% of land in Nebraska is set aside for conservation, it will shift the property tax burden onto fewer farmers, ranchers, homeowners, and business owners.”
Fourteen other Republican governors, including Greg Abbott of Texas, Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Doug Burgum of North Dakota, Greg Gianforte of Montana and Brad Little of Idaho have slammed what they call potential federal overreach.
I joined Governors around the U.S. in standing against Biden’s radical 30×30 plan.
The President has no authority to dictate to states or citizens what to do with their private property.
Read the full letter. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/iz9HIx8Vta
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 22, 2021
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack denied that the government is attempting to seize private property.
“There’s no intention to have a land grab,” Vilsack said in April, according to Agri Pulse. “There’s no intention to take something away from folks.”
However, the Biden administration has not provided details about how it plans to implement the program, and this lack of transparency is alarming.
Even some liberals are skeptical. Tom Goldtooth, an activist with the Indigenous Environmental Network, is worried that Biden’s initiative will be another Big Government scam.
“We have so many concerns that this is just another scam,” he told NPR on Tuesday. “It’s another scam to give the impression that these lands are going to be protected, set aside, restoring nature.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
