Landowner victories over carbon-capture land grabs have finally caught the attention of major media, with Reuters publishing an analysis over the weekend entitled “U.S. Carbon Capture Pipeline Setbacks Reflect Challenges in Climate Fight.”
The flagrantly biased report rightly explains that the Biden administration views carbon capture and storage “as critical to reaching the nation’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.”
The 2021 Infrastructure Act included billions toward technological development, and last year’s Inflation Reduction Act awarded huge tax credits for pipeline projects.
With that kind of overwhelming federal support behind them, companies planning the pipelines continue to push forward despite recent setbacks.
North Dakota, where Summit Carbon Solutions proposes to store carbon dioxide captured from ethanol plants throughout the Corn Belt, denied that company’s permit application in August. The Public Services Commission objected over safety concerns. Summit has appealed the decision.
Dakota News Now reports that Summit will also appeal the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission’s denial of its construction permit application last month. The company plans to reroute its pipeline and, toward that end, is moving teams of staff to Aberdeen and Sioux Falls in the eastern part of the state. However, Summit also agreed to dismiss around 160 condemnation lawsuits it had brought against landowners who refused to sign voluntary easements for its initial pipeline plan.
Meanwhile, in Montana, the federal Bureau of Land Management is holding the standard dog and pony show, calling for public comments for a carbon-sequestration project planned on public land.
The outcome is fairly easy to anticipate, since the BLM issued a policy in June 2022 allowing for the permanent underground storage of carbon dioxide on land it manages, which amounts to more than 245 million acres, mostly in western states, including Alaska.
In Illinois, Wolf Carbon Solutions “got an icy reception” at a county board meeting last week. That company is planning a pipeline from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to underground storage in Decatur, Illinois. The board heard Wolf’s presentation, but the room was packed with landowners who oppose the land grab that pipelines present. “They’re playing a shell game,” Elton Rocke of Pekin told NPR. “And it’s not profiting the people. It’s profiting the big corporations and the pipeline companies.”
But it is the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) that has ultimate say-so over this project in that state, and it is set to finalize a decision on Wolf’s construction application next May.
The ICC is gathering public comments, which anyone can submit, regardless of Illinois residency. To do so, you can visit www.icc.illinois.gov, and under e-docket, search for P2023-0161. On the right side of the page, choose “Public Comments,” and then click “File a Comment.”
Meanwhile, grassroots groups are gaining traction on Facebook. Tazewell County: Stop the CO2 Pipeline has more than 2,300 members. Other groups include:
Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines: Unsafe at Any Price
Peoria County: Stop the CO2 Pipeline
IOEDA – Iowans Opposed to Eminent Domain Abuse for CO2 Pipelines
