Scrolling through our Twitter feed, this tweet by Montevideo-based grassroots environment group CURE caught our attention:
Summit is inflating the number of Iowa landowners who have signed easements for their proposed CO2 pipeline. They claim "hundreds" of easements have been signed in IA, but as of 2/22, only 40 easements have been recorded for 13.6 miles. 🤔https://t.co/dfqZjPP3R6
— CURE (@CUREriver) March 8, 2022
We clicked through to read the Reuters report by Leah Douglas, U.S. Midwest carbon pipeline has secured less than 2% of key Iowa route, filings show:
Landowners in Iowa have been slow to cede their property rights to a 2,000-mile (3,219 km) proposed carbon dioxide pipeline that would cut through the U.S. Midwest, an analysis by Reuters has found.
Summit Carbon Solutions said last month it had negotiated easements with hundreds of landowners along the pipeline route, marking a major advance for what it hopes will become the world’s largest carbon capture and storage (CCS) project.
But in Iowa, the state that would host the largest section of the proposed line, the company has reported just 40 land easements, covering just 1.9% of its 703-mile traverse, according to a database maintained by the Office of the Iowa County Recorder and analyzed by Reuters.
The discrepancy raises questions about Summit’s progress in securing a route for the $4.5 billion project, dubbed the Midwest Carbon Express, which would transport carbon dioxide siphoned from ethanol processing facilities in five Midwestern states to North Dakota for underground storage.
The company says the project will create jobs and combat climate change by helping biofuel producers to decarbonize. But many landowners worry the project could also damage farmland and impact human health in the event of a leak, according to Reuters interviews and a review of public comments filed with state regulators.
If Summit fails to secure a route through voluntary agreements with landowners, it would have to resort to using eminent domain, a controversial legal tool that allows the government or its agents to take over land for the public interest. . . .
Read the rest of the article at Reuters. There's more as well at the Aberdeen American
Alexandra Hardle reported in Politics, legislative action play a part in Summit Carbon Solutions' pipeline proposal:
Politics play a part in just about every major project, and Summit Carbon Solution's proposed carbon dioxide pipeline is no exception.
In South Dakota, both the House and Senate have approved a bill that would include carbon capture companies in certain pipeline taxation provisions.
The bill, which Summit Carbon Solutions asked for, would mean that all people and businesses involved in the transportation of things like gasoline and carbon dioxide would be taxed. The taxation amount for pipelines that go through more than two counties would be determined by the South Dakota Department of Revenue. The measure awaits possible approval by Gov. Kristi Noem.
The proposed pipeline would ship carbon dioxide from the fermentation process at ethanol plants and biorefineries in five states to North Dakota, where it would be stored underground in "deep geologic storage locations," according to Summit. . .
The state Public Utilities Commission will ultimately decide whether the company is granted a permit to advance the project. . . .
And there's this in the Hardle article:
Political connections questioned
South Dakota landowners have raised questions about the political background of some of Summit Carbon Solutions' staff members, noting the team's political ties to both major parties.
Former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad is perhaps the most obvious. Branstad, a Republican, served from 1983 to 1999 and again from 2011 to 2017. He also served as ambassador to China, resigning in 2020 to work on Donald Trump's reelection campaign.
Branstad has a history of helping the ethanol industry. He supported changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard in 2015 to benefit state's 40-plus ethanol plants.
Branstad isn't the only one who has connections to the ethanol industry. Summit Carbon Solutions' General Counsel Jess Vilsack has a close connection through a family member. His father is U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, also a supporter of ethanol industry. Tom Vilsack is a Democrat.
The pipeline has grown controversial as big-money projects that require private land often do.
Summit Carbon Solutions representatives have said the pipeline will benefit the environment and ethanol industry by helping dispose of carbon dioxide. But not everybody agrees, and some see it as a money grab. Summit officials have said the company could accumulate as much as $600 million a year in tax credits.
One Summit representative has a tie to Branstad. Vice President of Government and Public Affairs Jake Ketzner, who spoke at a meeting in front of the McPherson County Commission on Feb. 1, was an aide who helped guide Branstad's 2014 reelection campaign to victory. He then worked as a legislative liaison for Branstad, as well as for current Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.
And there are other ties.
Summit Carbon Solutions' parent company is Summit Agricultural Group, with Justin Kirchhoff being president of Summit Ag Investors. According to 2020 data published by the website FollowTheMoney.org, which tracks political contributions, Kirchhoff donated $2,500 to Reynolds. That amount isn't substantial in the world of political contributions, though in 2021 Reynolds appointed Kirchhoff to a carbon sequestration task force. . . .
Were it not for such facts, we'd be inclined to wonder if a post at the Bleeding Heartland blog by Iowa Democratic Party’s Progressive Caucus Chair Brian McLain might be a bit of hyperbole.
in Progressive Caucus passes resolution condemning carbon pipelines:
For decades now, corporate interests have had their way in Iowa and both parties have been complicit. It is time for the Iowa Democratic Party, the Party of the People, to say “enough is enough.” It is time to ask our elected officials, our candidates, our leaders which side they are on. Are they on the side of the oligarchs and corporations that seek to profit off the backs of all Iowans, or are they on the side of the people?
On March 2, 21 members of the Iowa Democratic Party’s State Central Committee sided with the oligarchs against seventeen who chose to stand with the people. Using a bad faith procedural tactic, they refused to give a hearing to a resolution that would make clear the party’s opposition to the abuse of eminent domain to install a dangerous pipeline that does little to actually address the climate crisis.
It was argued that it is not the State Central Committee’s place to make such statements, even though recent precedent showed otherwise.
In response, the Progressive Caucus, a pro-labor, pro-worker, pro-union constituency caucus of the Iowa Democratic Party, took up this resolution and joined with the seventeen representatives who voted “yes.” The Veteran’s Caucus voted to side with the people. The Disability Caucus declared their solidarity with the people of Iowa, as did the Rural Caucus. Rural Republicans, rural Democrats, and Libertarians are reaching out to support this resolution. They are doing so because it is the right thing to do.
We are calling on the 21 members of the State Central Committee who voted “no” to stand with the people of Iowa. We are calling on Iowa Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls and House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst to openly condemn this pipeline and work with the Republicans in their chambers who favor protecting landowners from corporations seeking to abuse eminent domain. We are calling on all candidates to side with the people of Iowa.
This pipeline will destroy rural Iowa communities. It will harm population growth, property values, and farmers. The environmental impact of a leak or explosion would be catastrophic. Coupled with the incorrectly named “school choice” efforts, it will lead to even more school consolidations, and that means even fewer young families moving to these towns.
Do the right thing. Stand with us. Stand with the people of Iowa. Oppose this pipeline and start working towards sustainable, safe, and truly tangible, green solutions to the climate crisis. Not just ones that balance out a spreadsheet in order to perpetuate the existence of a dying industry that pollutes our water and air as well as further exacerbates the climate crisis. And the lives of all rural Iowans are far more important than the few extra bucks that go into the pocket of the donor class.
Not one to mince words.
Related posts
- 2 ethanol CO2 headlines that make us go hmmm
- CO2 pipelines: who wins & who loses?
- Coming soon from a cornfield near you: mammoth carbon capture pipeline system
- Mother Jones: USDA Secretary Vilsack’s son works for a controversial ethanol pipeline project
- Iowa county boards scorn construction of CO2 pipelines, use of eminent domain to build them
- Digest of news about carbon dioxide pipelines
Screengrab: The proposed Summit CO2 pipeline, which could capture CO2 from ethanol plants, such Granite Falls Energy LLC in Granite Falls, Minnesota, which would help reduce the ethanol plants' overall carbon footprint. West Central Tribune, via Summit CO2 project.
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