Eleanor Hildebrandt | April 8, 2022

More than 100 landowners gathered at the Iowa Capitol last week, speaking against three proposed carbon capture pipelines in the state.

The speakers went as far as asking legislators to add amendments to ban the use of eminent domain permanent. Environmental activists joined the group on March 29, focused on stopping the companies from taking private farmland to build sequestration pipelines. Some speakers complained about not being able to meet with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to discuss the pipelines. Chair of the Calhoun County Democratic Party Emma Schmit told Iowa Public Radio that landowners rights are uniting rural residents.

“Everybody across the political spectrum believes in the fact that a private corporation shouldn’t be able to take your property for their own benefit without giving anything back,” she said.

Carbon sequestration pipelines aim to capture carbon dioxide emissions in an industrial process and store them underground. The goal of such projects is to curb climate change. Currently, three companies have plans to put carbon capture pipelines in Iowa: Archer-Daniel-Midlands (ADM), Summit Carbon Solutions and Navigator CO2 Ventures. The trio all plan to pipe carbon captured in the Midwest United States deep underground.