(SBA) - Governor Reynolds vetoed HF 639, which would have restricted companies from using eminent domain for projects like the proposed carbon pipelines unless they qualify as a “common carrier”, an agreement to serve the public fairly by transporting other resources such as gas for the common good. This veto illustrates the undue influence corporations like Summit Carbon Solutions have at our statehouse. It completely disregards the landowners who have been fighting across Iowa, the work the House of Representatives has put in for 4 years to get this legislation passed, and all the Iowans like folks in Southwest Iowa who would be impacted by the Summit’s proposed CO2 pipeline.
The Governor states that, “Iowa leads the nation in biofuels. We are at the forefront of turning corn into low carbon energy – a leadership position we risk losing if we block the infrastructure that makes it possible. Other Midwestern states, like Nebraska, Illinois and North Dakota, are already moving forward with carbon-capture projects that would put Iowa at a competitive disadvantage if the bill became law.”
To that scare tactic I would say, at what cost? We can keep investing in biofuels but it wont help climate change and it won’t matter when we run out of water because corporations like Summit are extracting over 3 billion each year.
The impact of CO2 pipelines goes far beyond the use of eminent domain. Thousands of Iowans, across party lines, oppose the proposed CO2 pipeline because they:
are dangerous and potentially deadly,
would extract over 3 billion gallons of water per year,
use technology that has consistently failed to reduce carbon emissions, and
rely heavily on and are propped up by taxpayer dollars
We must keep working together to stop the CO2 pipeline to protect the people and places we love.
Patricia Fuller, CCI Action Member
Council Bluffs, Iowa
