Tag Archives: Iowa Legislature

South Dakota deals fatal blow to CO2 pipeline

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It’s no secret that I view Donald Trump as a dangerous, narcissistic authoritarian, even as I respect my friends and acquaintances who voted for him. My question for these friends is this: Has Trump delivered what you hoped for, or has he gone off the rails in directions you hadn’t anticipated?

Take eminent domain. Trump supports it. Strongly. Years ago, he even said: “I happen to agree with it 100%. If you have a person living in an area that’s not even necessarily a good area, and … government wants to build a tremendous economic development, where a lot of people are going to be put to work and … create thousands upon thousands of jobs and beautification and lots of other things, I think it happens to be good.”

Trump’s willingness to take people’s property by force might explain why he hasn’t cancelled the 45Q tax credits. Without that handout, Summit Carbon Solutions’ CO2 pipeline isn’t viable. Continue Reading →

Special session: Iowa lawmakers should protect landowners from CO2 pipelines

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The Iowa Legislature meets in special session today to consider a bill to severely restrict abortion. Nothing prevents them from also addressing other concerns, for example, eminent domain to build CO2 pipelines.

Talk about unfinished business! Earlier this year, a bipartisan majority in the Iowa House voted to toughen eminent domain law. Yet when the bill (HF565) landed in the Senate, Governor Reynolds and Senate Republican leadership killed it. (I discuss this in detail starting at the 6-minute mark of this week’s program.)

Given that nearly 80 percent of Iowans oppose using eminent domain to build CO2 pipelines, the Legislature should use this special session to address the problem. Continue Reading →

Eminent domain bills on the move at the Iowa Statehouse

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If you live in Iowa, please contact your state rep and senator immediately regarding eminent domain legislation.

Several bills are on the move at the Statehouse, and now is a critical time to contact lawmakers.

Yesterday morning, I reached out to four Republicans and four Democrats about the issue, including the House and Senate minority leaders. I immediately heard back from three of the four Republicans, but not a single Democrat. (UPDATE: Two Democrats, Rep. Austin Baeth and Sen. Janet Peterson, have since responded.)

Yesterday, one Republican lawmaker shared this with me: “Today, for the third week in a row, we had dozens of landowners at the Capitol seeking legislative relief and protection. SF 101 has received registered support from the Iowa State Association of Counties and the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association. SF 104 addresses the 90% threshold and is supported by the Iowa Farm Bureau. House companion bills are being drafted, and there’s an even stronger 90% threshold bill in the works in the House that might stand a decent chance of movement.” Continue Reading →