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AMISH FARMER PLAYLIST

PHILIP HAMBURGER INTERVIEW

In recent years, bureaucracy has become a reign of terror within the USA. Departments, agencies, and administrations have increasingly been used as tools to grab essential civil liberties. The Amish farmer case, which I covered in-depth on this channel, highlights the extent to which bureaucracy (both state and federal) has taken hold of the food industry. (If you missed any part of that coverage, I will link the playlist in the description of this video.)

Cases like that of the Amish farmer leave many of us asking, “How have administrations and unelected officials attained so much authority over private citizens and businesses?”

The answer lies largely in what is known as the Chevron Deference, a legal doctrine that was the result of a 1984 Supreme Court ruling. This doctrine mandated that judges within federal courts submit (or defer) to an agency’s interpretation of silent or ambiguous statutes within a law, so long as the interpretation was deemed reasonable.

Fortunately, 12 weeks ago, after 40 years of precedence, the Chevron Deference was struck down by the Supreme Court of the United States as being unconstitutional and “fundamentally misguided.”

However, 40 years of precedence was enough time to leave a serious mark on patterns and behaviors within the U.S. government. Behaviors that, thankfully, are no longer hedged by legal precedence but must be reshaped by the demands of a properly educated American public.

This video is going to tell you what the Chevron Deference was for 40 years, how Chevron covertly funneled a dangerous level of power to the executive branch, and finally, I am going to suggest what will be required to turn what is now (in my opinion) neutral ground into positive territory.

I will also break down how this will impact food freedom cases like that of the Amish farmer.

What is the Chevron Deference?: Chevron v. NRDC

The Chevron Deference was established in 1984, in a case involving Chevron Oil and the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC). Ironically (in light of my previous upload on the hidden dangers of climate control policy), the case involved the regulation of emissions from Chevron oil facilities. The NRDC was enforcing the Clean Air Act of 1977, but that particular act contained fuzzy (or ambiguous) language with respect to how emissions were to be regulated.

Long story short, that lawsuit resulted in the Chevron Deference and its subsequent legal doctrines. The ruling stated that when a law or statute is ambiguous or silent, federal courts must give deference to a government agency’s interpretation of what that silence or ambiguity means. As a quick definition, deference means “to submit to.” So, judges in federal courts were obligated under Chevron’s precedence to submit to a federal agency. This created problems on several levels, one of which being the fact that federal agencies are often the ones filing suit against individuals and businesses. For a litigant to receive deference is technically a bias.

Not only were federal agencies allowed to interpret, but they were also permitted to create rules around silence and ambiguity within the law.

You are probably already seeing it, but the Chevron Deference has been labeled “the Lord Voldemort” of administrative law. While I have never watched the movie (nor would I ever endorse it), a quick Google search revealed to me what people meant by that label.

Chevron became a picture of administrative evil, ultimately funneling power to the executive branch that it was never intended to have.

How the Chevron Deference Became a Power Grab

And here is how: (Keep in mind, this is a very simplified look. If you would like a technical analysis, I would recommend Epoch TV’s 1-hour interview with Philip Hamburger, an American legal historian and a scholar of constitutional law.)

As we all learned in middle school, power within our federal government is divided into three branches:

• The Legislative Branch is where Congress resides. Elected officials from each state come together to discuss and agree upon laws or rules. The Constitution is the parameter within which new laws or rules are made.
• The Executive Branch is where the President resides. The President and his team give the stamp of approval to the laws that come out of the legislative branch.
• The Judicial Branch is where judges and the court system reside. Here, the laws are enforced at the ground level. Judges (elected officials) make judgments as to how to apply the law on a case-by-case basis.

These three branches work together under the authority of the United States Constitution and the accountability of the American people (who can vote them in or out during various election cycles).

Chevron became ugly because it funneled legislative and judicial power to administrations within the executive branch, creating a covert system of centralized power at the federal level.

Three branches of federal government still existed outwardly, but the executive branch gained a level of power it was never intended to have.

And in case it is not entirely clear how, here is a quick summary:

• Where Congress (the legislative branch) used to hold the somewhat exclusive right to make laws and write rules, under Chevron, federal agencies now had permission to make rules where the law was silent or ambiguous.
• Where judges in the court system (the judicial branch) are tasked with executing judgment without bias, under Chevron, judges were obligated to defer to federal agencies in the courtroom “so long as their interpretation was reasonable.”

According to SCOTUSBlog.com, “Chevron has become one of the most important rulings on federal administrative law, cited by federal courts more than 18,000 times since 1984.”

Chevron not only provided a strong legal precedent for bureaucracy within the court system but, according to Philip Hamburger, it reshaped the behavioral patterns of Congress.

Hamburger claims that Congress has become “infantilized,” as for four decades it has “handed off” its responsibility for rulemaking and interpretation to various federal agencies.

The Chevron Doctrine has profoundly influenced our modern political climate. To again quote Hamburger: “When all of the regulatory power of the federal government is in the hand of agencies under some degree of control or restraint by the White House, then everything turns in a presidential election. Too much turns on it. This is one reason why presidential elections have become warfare.”

Impact on Food Freedom Cases

Now, keep in mind, Chevron was a federal ruling, which means it technically has no precedence in state courts. For this reason, it will not provide any direct relief for state cases like Pennsylvania v. The Amish Farmer.

However, I suggest that there has been tremendous spillover to the state level. I base this on sitting in a courtroom in Pennsylvania last February and watching a commonwealth judge defer to the Department of Agriculture’s interpretation of a raw milk permit.

Neutral Ground Into Positive Territory

Now this brings us to today:
As of June 2024, the Chevron Deference was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the USA, after two private fishing boats in New England challenged regulations from the National Marine Fisheries Service. The regulations required the private boats to carry and pay for observers who would collect data about their catches and monitor for overfishing.

The private fishing boats initially lost, as under Chevron’s precedence, deference was given to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The ruling was appealed and taken to the Supreme Court, where Chevron was struck down as being unconstitutional and “fundamentally misguided.”

This is a major victory, and to an extent, bureaucracy has been dethroned. However, bureaucracy still exists—and in the proper context, it is a legitimate player in government. It should not be making rules or receiving bias in the courtroom, but administration does have a legitimate function in the executive branch.

But here is what I would submit for conversation: We are now on neutral ground from which advancements for either the negative or positive can be made.

Here is what I mean: I believe that the administrative state (bureaucracy) will be very quick to re-enthrone itself and re-establish its authority to make rules and influence the judicial system.

Unless individuals and businesses become proactive in putting legal counter-pressure on the encroachment of federal agencies, similar to how those private fishing boats challenged the Marine Fisheries Service, we will lose this ground.

We will also need to be proactive in awakening Congress to its obligation to not only write the law but to provide Constitutional definitions where ambiguity and silence present themselves.

That is, in my opinion, the immediate action that will be required to turn this ruling into a win. Give me a thumbs-up if you agree, and leave a comment with your opinion: Is Chevron a major win, or is it a return to neutral? I look forward to reading your comments.

And if you missed it, watch this video next, where I discuss the negative impact of climate control policies and the knowledge necessary to combat it.

The conversation around carbon emissions is often marked by false predictions and emotionalism. Despite this, the policies and taxes stemming from these discussions are increasingly burdening our three essential industries: energy, agriculture, and transportation.

Fundamental realities are being laid by the wayside, and in today’s post, I want to take a moment to refocus on some of these fundamental realities.

My goal here is to clarify three terms frequently used to promote climate alarmism: carbon, methane, and emissions. Then, I’ll introduce two critical elements that are often left out of the conversation: sequestration and methanotrophs.

By the end, I will combing all five to give you a complete look at the carbon cycle.

Upcoming are five basic and universally accepted facts, but I do want it to be understood that I am coming at you from a distinctly Christian worldview. You are free to use the comment section to bring opinions to the contrary, but it is my firm belief that acknowledging Christ as creator is the key to maintaining clarity in a time when much of the population is exchanging truth for a lie.

Please share this video once you are done watching and especially consider sharing with children.

3 Terms in the Climate Crises Debate

Let’s start by defining three frequently used terms within the climate-crisis debate: carbon, methane, and emissions.

1. Carbon
Carbon is not the villain it’s often made out to be. According to World Book, carbon is one of the most familiar and important elements, making up the living tissue of all plants and animals. The form of carbon discussed in the news is primarily atmospheric carbon, also known as carbon dioxide or atmospheric CO2. Humans and animals exhale CO2, and it also enters the atmosphere when substances containing carbon, like wood, coal, or gasoline, are burned.

2. Methane
Methane (CH4) is a natural gas that forms when plants decompose in environments with little or no oxygen. This is why cows, when digesting plants in their rumen, belch methane. Humans also emit methane, though not at the same rate as a 2,000-pound cow.

3. Emissions
Emissions refer to the release of substances into the environment. When a train burns coal, the smoke from the smokestack is a carbon emission. When your car burns gasoline, the exhaust is a carbon emission. The power grid, when it powers your home or charges your electric car, burns fossil fuels, and that too results in carbon emissions. When humans and animals exhale, the gas released is a carbon emission.

Considering the millions of pounds of CO2 and methane emissions entering the atmosphere daily, it’s easy to paint a bleak picture. These compounds can indeed increase atmospheric temperature under certain conditions, though research within the climate conversation on this topic is conflicting.

Carbon Sequestration & Methanotrophs

Here’s where we introduce two critical aspects that the climate change movement often overlooks: carbon sequestration and methanotrophs.

1. Carbon Sequestration
Carbon sequestration is the process of removing CO2 from the atmosphere. Plants, much like humans rely on oxygen, depend on CO2 for survival. As grass sprouts from the ground or trees put out leaves, they’re pulling carbon out of the atmosphere. When pasture and cattle are managed mindfully, and root systems deepen, they pull even more carbon from the air. Grasslands, forests, wetlands, and oceans are the only natural means by which CO2 can be removed from the atmosphere.

2. Methanotrophs
Methanotrophs are microscopic bacteria that consume methane. These bacteria live in the soil, pulling methane out of the atmosphere. Fascinatingly, scientists have recently discovered methanotrophs in tree bark, prompting further research into where else these bacteria might exist and help reduce methane levels.

Population control as a solution?

You may have heard arguments suggesting that overpopulation creates a massive carbon footprint, implying that humans are responsible for destroying the Earth and that population control is the solution. However, even the UN acknowledges that man-made environments, such as industrial areas and urban centers, only occupy around 1 to 3 percent of the Earth’s total land surface. In contrast, 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered in vegetation. When we reject the notion that humanity is the problem, the picture becomes much more hopeful.

Where legitimate concerns exist over excess emissions, whether methane or CO2, humans have the capacity to steward natural resources in ways that exponentially increase the removal of these gases from the atmosphere.

My Experience with Regenerative Agriculture

I speak from firsthand experience. I manage 30 acres of grassland in Northeast Texas using a method called regenerative agriculture. I was introduced to this farming method and its benefits four years ago. It offered me the chance to improve my land while growing healthy food for my local community. With no prior farming background and limited resources, I started with a few sheep and some electric fencing.

Four years later, my land boasts 200 to 300 percent more vegetation than neighboring pastures. This vegetation pulls carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, while the soil life pulls methane out. This productivity wouldn’t be possible without the animals on the land. The sheep and cows graze 24/7, fertilizing the pasture with their manure, which naturally contains nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. These nutrients accelerate plant growth and support the methanotrophs that consume methane.

I use electric fencing to rotate my livestock across the pasture, allowing each section to rest and regrow. This rest period not only promotes healthier grass but also enhances carbon sequestration and methane reduction. Some of the grasses on my pasture have root systems that are two to three times deeper than the grass growing above ground.

Ask yourself:

With what you now know of the carbon cycle: is it wise to tax cattle or make it more expensive for farmers to raise them? Will covering 10 million acres in solar panels really help with carbon sequestration? Is the push to end fossil fuels driving us toward an energy crisis?

These are important questions to consider. I hope this discussion helps shed light on the broader picture and encourages thoughtful dialogue on the best ways to steward our planet.

If you found this information helpful, please share this post. Consider subscribing to my newsletter using the link in the pinned comment to stay connected, regardless of what happens to my content on social platforms.

Check out my video on “Micro Ranching for Profit,” a documentary I made for the National Grazing Lands Coalition:

“Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Colossians 1:12-17

Food Freedom Playlist

March 2024 West Virginia Legalizes raw milk with no strings attached in House Bill 4911 which cites that “sales of raw milk are permitted in West Virginia as long as the containers are clearly labeled as ungraded raw milk.  What’s more is that the bill gives the seller of that raw dairy immunity from suit or liability.

Again, March 2024: USDA Responds to public pushback and reinstates Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling for meat products nationwide.

Correcting dishonest legislation that allows imported meat and poultry to be marketed “product of USA”.

Yet again, March 2024: Judge removed the Pennsylvania Department of Agricultures strangle hold on the Amish Farmer, re-establishing Amos Miller’s right to serve private members in 49 of 50 states.

May 2024: The Louisiana Raw Milk Bill passes the House with a vote of 95 to 0. If passed by senate and signed into law, the bill will bring the USA down to just 5 states that prohibit the sale of Raw milk, down from 25 states in 2006.

Enacted in 2017 and revised in 2023 MAINE FOOD SOVEREIGNTY ACT: cites that “local food producers in communities with food sovereignty laws are to remain exempt from state licensing and inspections of food produced, sold, and consumed locally.”

Why am I listing all of these victories shotgun style?

Because I want to remind you that activism makes an impact.

About 8 weeks ago I launched what ended up being an 8-video series that began by highlighting some massive and disturbing overreach is it pertains to state and federal agencies against private farms. The series concluded with me having a 1-1 sit-down with a member of US Congress; asking point-blank questions how can we as concerned citizens be proactive in re-establishing essential civil liberties.

If you missed any of those videos, I’m going to link the entire playlist down below.

But as I have shared this video series, I have realized it can be really easy to fuel an imbalance and isolate our focus on our opponents advancements.  And while I do believe it is strategic to know when and how our enemies are advancing… Providing continuous exposure to the aggression of our opponents might  leave some feeling that activism is ineffective, our efforts are futile, and we might as well go belly up in a bunker waiting for a massive EMP attack.

I have felt this because, while a majority of my comments section is full of proactive people who are excited to lie building their farms or supporting local food as a means of activism and cultural kickback: I started getting comments from people encouraging me to go build an armored ark, give up because at max we have a year before the world is on fire, or don’t get married because my children will inherit nothing but microchips in their forehead.

And I am calling out these negative comments because this is the mindset that opponents of liberty want us to assume: they want us to belly up in a bunker (or armored ark) with no progeny and no one to obstruct their ongoing efforts to totally overtake culture and society.

So this video is to help you refocus on a fundamental truth: and that is that standing in the gap for what is right makes a difference. Period.

In addition to being a biblical concept, it’s akin to Newton’s 3rd law: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Exercising our duty to peacefully protest what is wrong, petitioning government authorities on behalf of what is right, and probably most importantly: just walking the walk by re-establishing our own small farms and supporting local food.

THESE are things that obstruct the pathway of those who would do us ill. And these are things we must continue to do.

Citation for Food Freedom Victories:
https://www.marlerblog.com/lawyer-oped/a-legal-history-of-raw-milk-in-the-united-states/

https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2024/03/11/usda-finalizes-voluntary-product-usa-label-claim-enhance-consumer

https://www.wboy.com/news/west-virginia/west-virginia-politics/raw-milk-bill-passes-in-west-virginia-house-of-delegates