News digest: Hundreds of farmers, landowners rally at South Dakota capitol against use of eminent domain for ethanol carbon pipelines

Today at the South Dakota capitol in Pierre, a Property Rights Roundup took place, sponsored on Facebook by Landowners for Eminent Domain Reform.

The trigger? Use of eminent domain to force the use of private land for ethanol carbon pipelines.

A digest of news coverage about the rally

At South Dakota Searchlight, Joshua Haiar reports in Hundreds rally in Pierre against eminent domain for carbon pipelines:

PIERRE — About 250 people descended on the state Capitol on Thursday, demanding a prohibition against carbon capture pipeline companies gaining access to land against a landowner’s will.

Lawmakers, landowners and concerned citizens from across the political spectrum called on Republican Gov. Kristi Noem to call a special legislative session to address the issue. She did not attend the rally.

“Governor Noem, you say you stand with us,” said rally speaker Ed Fischbach, an Aberdeen-area farmer whose land is near a proposed pipeline route. “We need your actions to speak louder than your words.”

The rally comes amid a heated public debate over the expansion of carbon capture pipeline infrastructure.

Two pipelines that would pass through eastern South Dakota and multiple other states are designed to transport captured carbon dioxide produced at ethanol plants to underground storage sites in North Dakota and Illinois. The aim is to combat climate change by removing carbon from the atmosphere, where it traps heat. The projects are eligible for billions of dollars in federal tax credits, and could allow ethanol producers to sell their products in places with restrictive emissions standards.

However, critics argue that the use of a court process called “eminent domain” – which one of the pipeline companies is already pursuing, to gain land access from dozens of unwilling landowners – is a violation of property rights.

“This is going to set precedents,” said Rep. Oren Lesmeister, D-Parade, in a speech to the crowd. “And if we don’t stop this now, what’s that going to mean for eminent domain for private gain in the future?”

Some attendees wore T-shirts that read “No eminent domain” and held signs asking “Gov. Noem, what if this was your land?” Some argued the use of eminent domain by carbon capture pipelines is improper, because carbon pipelines do not deliver a product for the public as some other eminent domain projects do, such as crude oil pipelines, water pipelines and electrical power lines.

Collin Duprel, who ran unsuccessfully as a Libertarian for Congress last year, told the crowd that lawmakers who failed to show up for the rally will have a tough time getting reelected.

“There’s a lot of people who are missing,” Duprel said. “They don’t deserve to be in office anymore. We’re drawing a line in the sand, today.”

Chair of the South Dakota Freedom Caucus, state Rep. Aaron Aylward, R-Harrisburg, said in a press release he is committed to fighting for legislative action.

“Governor Noem: Our land and property rights are under attack, and the time for action is now,” Aylward said. “By declaring a man-made emergency and convening a special legislative session, you can put an end to this assault on citizens’ rights.”

The governor can declare a special session, but so can two-thirds of the Legislature.

At the end of the rally, affected landowner Jared Bossly and state Rep. Karla Lems, R-Canton, delivered about 2,000 petition signatures calling for a special session to the governor’s office.

Noem has not addressed protesters’ calls for her to declare a special session but tweeted last week, “If the Legislature wants to call themselves into special session to change the law, I look forward to reviewing what they send to my desk.”

There was a bill to prohibit eminent domain for carbon pipelines during last winter’s legislative session. The bill passed the House but failed in a Senate committee.

House Majority Leader Will Mortenson, R-Pierre, did not attend the rally. He said in a statement that while he “led the charge for farmers and ranchers during this year’s session,” unless “we get agreement with the Senate on some proposals, we shouldn’t call a special session and neither should the governor. It would be a waste of taxpayer dollars and legislator time.”

“For my part, I’ll be spending the next couple months working with senators to gather consensus on protecting landowners. I hope we get the job done,” Mortenson said.

The carbon capture pipeline company using eminent domain, Summit Carbon Solutions, and its proponents have defended the process as a necessary step for ensuring the future of corn-based ethanol. They point out that the company has already negotiated easements with about 70% of impacted landowners in the state.

Summit Carbon Solutions did not reply to a request for comment on the calls for a special session. Both Summit and Navigator CO2 Ventures, the other company proposing a carbon pipeline through South Dakota, have permit hearings scheduled later this summer with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission.

At Keloland, Bob Mercer reported in Landowners rally at Capitol against CO2 pipelines:

Several hundred landowners and supporters joined about two dozen state lawmakers for a noon-hour rally at the South Dakota Capitol on Thursday to urge that Governor Kristi Noem call a special legislative session.

Several speakers acknowledged they don’t have new legislation yet but said they would have something ready if a special session is called regarding eminent domain that two companies are using to gain access for their proposed carbon dioxide pipeline projects. . ..

One of the speakers was Spink County farmer Ed Fischbach. “Governor Noem, you say you stand with us. We need your actions to speak louder than your words,” he said.

Another speaker was Republican Rep. Karla Lems, who sponsored legislation during the 2023 regular session that the House passed but a Senate committee killed.

House Democrat leader and rancher Oren Lesmeister told the gathering Thursday that Lems’ legislation likely wouldn’t work any longer because it would now be after the fact. But he said another bill was possible.

“When it comes to property rights, we all need to stand up. This is not a partisan issue,” Lesmeister said.

Lems agreed. “We here today — there are Democrats here, there are Republicans here, there are Libertarians, I’m sure there are independents — this is not a partisan issue. This is an American issue, and this is a South Dakota issue,” she said.

The legislators on hand all were House members who supported Lems’ bill. The Legislature could call itself into special session, but that would require at least 47 of the 70 House members and at least 24 of the 35 senators.

At the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Dominck Dausch reports in South Dakota landowners call on Noem, lawmakers to pick a side in pipeline battle:

PIERRE ― Landowners from across South Dakota and abroad converged Thursday on the state Capitol during a landmark rally against carbon dioxide pipelines.

The major show of support comes after state legislators ― about a dozen of whom were in attendance― called on Gov. Kristi Noem to convene a special legislative session concerning the threat of eminent domain, CO2 pipelines and property rights.

That same message was echoed in the Capitol rotunda, where hundreds of farmers, ranchers and landowners opposed to the pipelines filled the stairs behind and lined the balconies above the main speakers at the rally.

"As farmers and ranchers, we're often too busy to show up to things like this," Collin Duprel, a Libertarian who ran against Rep. Dusty Johnson in the U.S. House, said in his speech. "We shouldn't have to be here in the Capitol, begging the governor to call a special session."

Surpassing the significant physical presence in Pierre, rally organizers also announced they would submit more than 2,000 signed petitions to Noem's office, asking the governor to call for a special session. Jared Bossly, a Brown County landowner whom Summit Carbon accused of making violent threats against surveyors in May ― a claim he addressed and dismissed ― promptly delivered the stack of petitions to the governor's office after the rally ended.

Mark Lapka, a farmer from Leola and one of the main voices speaking out against the pipeline company, told the Argus Leader the Thursday rally is a significant sign of progress in the anti-pipeline movement. Lapka said landowners had a difficult time organizing last year due to the demands of the South Dakota harvest and other farm duties.

"There wasn't near as many of us showing up in here last session because it was a hard winter. Harder for folks because most farmers have cattle," Lapka said. "I think [pipeline companies] really viewed us as a vocal minority, when, in actuality, that is not the case."

Summit Carbon Solutions, a carbon capture company, has taken the brunt of the critique from South Dakota landowners opposed to pipelines. The company's proposed Midwest Carbon Express pipeline is a $4.5 billion endeavor that would cover about 477 miles of land in the state if built.

Eminent domain a concern for South Dakota farmers

Summit Carbon has not yet acquired land through eminent domain, but the company did initiate the first step of the process by filing more than 80 lawsuits against landowners in April. Summit Carbon has also conducted surveys on land belonging to said landowners, thanks to a court order from a Fifth Circuit judge. . . .

Read the rest at the Argus Leader.

There's more about where the South Dakota legislature's at in the Mitchell Republic, where Caleb Barber reported on Wednesday in South Dakota legislators split over how to address landowner property rights.

At Dakota Free Press, Cory Allen Heidelberger drew a different point in Big Protest over Land Justice at State Capitol Today; Pierre Unconcerned":

. . .Rookie Representative Karla Lems (R-16/Canton) says over a hundred landowners in South Dakota have been served condemnation letters by the big Republican CO2 pipeliners trying to seize their property. Farmers whose land is being taken away have shown historically that they may respond with violence.

Yet strangely, while Rapid City leaders put the city on red alert when Indians planned a peaceful march on July 4 to ask for justice on their stolen land, Pierre leaders seem not to have sounded any alarms about the gathering of (mostly white) farmers and legislators trying to stop a contemporary land heist. I’m even willing to speculate that far more of the protestors gathering in Pierre today will be packing heat than were the protestors who marched downtown in Rapid City Tuesday. But the City of Pierre seems unconcerned, happily-go-luckily promoting its hydrant parties and reëstablished frisbee golf course and vanquishing of curly pondweed.

I guess threat perception varies depending on the similarity of affiliation and coloration of the protestors and the leaders of the communities where they plan to protest.

There's that.

Photo: Landowners Mark Lapka, left, and Jared Bossly (holding petitions with about 2,000 signatures) speak at the state Capitol in Pierre on July 6, 2023, demanding a prohibition against carbon capture pipeline companies gaining access to land against a landowner’s will. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

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Jul 06, 2023

News digest: Hundreds of farmers, landowners rally at South Dakota capitol against use of eminent domain for ethanol carbon pipelines

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