Will South Dakota Save Our Property Rights & Food Security?

South Dakota is proving herself a fortress against globalist schemes to rob farmers of their property by claiming eminent domain for “carbon-capture” pipelines. South Dakota’s lawmakers and governor are defending South Dakotans in a way that the rest of Americans should both envy and emulate.

Governor Rhoden Signs Ban On Eminent Domain For “Carbon-Capture” Pipelines

South Dakota’s new governor, Republican Larry Rhoden, announced last Thursday that he signed a bill banning the use of eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines, delivering a victory to property-rights activists who spent several years advocating for the bill. SEE ARTICLE BELOW

Eminent domain is the right to access private property for projects that allegedly benefit the public, with compensation determined by a court. It’s commonly used for projects such as electrical power lines, water pipelines, oil pipelines and highways which directly benefit We The People, not corporations.

This legislation passed the state Senate two days earlier after passing the House in late January. It prohibits carbon pipeline developers from using eminent domain to acquire land (steal it from landowners). The issue has been at the center of a contentious debate over Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed $9 billion “carbon capture” pipeline. The project would transport carbon dioxide from more than 50 ethanol plants in five states, including eastern South Dakota, to an underground storage site in North Dakota. This corporation would qualify for billions in federal tax credits based upon Biden’s Green New Scam to incentivize the sequestration of so-called heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions.

TRANSPARENCY FROM GOVERNOR RHODEN

In a letter explaining his decision, Rhoden, a western South Dakota rancher, former legislator and former lieutenant governor (until Governor Noem resigned to head Trump’s Department of Homeland Security) emphasized his longstanding commitment to property rights and framed the bill as a way to restore trust between landowners and developers.

“I am no stranger to discussions about eminent domain and property rights,” Rhoden wrote. “l’ve fought for private property rights in this Capitol for over 20 years. When I was a legislator, I was the prime sponsor of legislation that reformed eminent domain to protect property rights. I don’t just care about landowners — I am a landowner.”

Supporters of the bill have argued that private companies like Summit should not be able to access land against the will of property owners. Opponents, however, contended that the measure could harm the ethanol industry (Diane’s note: So what?), which is seeking ways to lower its carbon footprint because some states and countries limit sales of carbon-intensive fuels. [That is their problem. Why should landowners suffer to help these corporations?] Rhoden said voluntary land-access agreements known as easements should be the path forward. He said his signature on the bill “does not kill the proposed project.”

“I encourage Summit and others to view it as an opportunity for a needed reset,” he wrote. “Voluntary easements for this proposed project will still be able to move forward.” Summit, in a statement, said the ban “changed the rules in the middle of the game.” To which Diane says: Tough! Property rights built this country and property rights keep us free.

Summit has not yet received a permit from the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission. The company’s initial application was denied in 2023, largely due to the route’s conflicts with local ordinances that mandate minimum distances between pipelines and existing features. The company has since made some adjustments to its route and reapplied, and that application is pending. The project has received permits in Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota, while Nebraska does not have a permitting process. Some of the permits have been challenged in court.

“The use of power of condemnation by a private company for the benefit of potential future markets is not worth the dangerous precedent it sets for future generations,” Senator Joy Hohn, R-Sioux Falls, said. “On behalf of South Dakota citizens and property owners across our great state, we are so grateful to Governor Rhoden.”

NEVER HEARD OF CARBON-CAPTURE PIPELINES?

Pipeline companies are eagerly awaiting the chance at $$$ billions in taxpayer-funded government subsidies to “sequester carbon dioxide (CO₂) underground.” This is the process known as carbon capture and storage (CCS). Potential payouts are so large that the companies are suing landowners who don’t sign voluntary easements and, in most cases, elected leaders are selling out their constituents to our Washington DC overlords’ corporate cronies. But, not in South Dakota!

Supercritical (liquefied) CO₂ pumped through pipelines under extremely high pressure is ridiculously dangerous and toxic to animal and plant life. Studies have shown that there are five-mile “kill zone” around rupture sites. Such corporations are reaping huge profits at the expense of American taxpayers. Much of the property they’re commandeering is some of the most valuable farmland in our country. Taking that land out of agricultural production threatens our food security.

Far from being a “pollutant,” as eco-crazed bureaucrats have labeled it, CO₂ is a chemical compound critical to life on earth. It is plant food. It feeds our food. Regardless, various state legislatures and agencies are boosting these projects, for which there is no demand on the free market. There has been no incentive to transport the hazardous liquid, certainly not thousands of miles through numerous states at dangerously high pressure to sequester it underground.

But now there is a higher calling, according to Green New Dealers and Net Zeroists: We must sacrifice everything, private property and food included, to capture carbon dioxide. Otherwise Mother Earth will perish, and we along with her. Ha!

ARE PROPERTY RIGHTS BEING DESTROYED IN YOUR STATE?

Thanks to the 2021 Infrastructure Bill and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, billions in subsidies for CCS mean that for-profit companies such as Summit Carbon Solutions (SCS) needn’t be bothered with free-market worries. SCS wants to snake its Midwest Carbon Express through Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota for underground sequestration in North Dakota. The amalgamation (storage) area is curiously close to oil and gas fields in the Bakken Shale Formation, some of which are owned by one of Summit’s largest investors. Regardless, Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota have approved Summit’s permit applications; the latter also OK’d the amalgamation area. Since Nebraska has no established regulatory process for CO₂ pipelines, Summit is obtaining approvals from individual counties.

However, the states in Summit’s path are only the tip of the iceberg. In 2022, the US Department of Energy announced that 96,000 miles of CCS pipeline are planned across the nation. [Will Trump’s Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, stop this?] State governments are already setting the stage. Pennsylvania’s Carbon Capture and Sequestration Act of 2024 enshrined eminent-domain theft into state law. Other states giving the green light to CCS include Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Companies waiting to gobble up federal largesse at the expense of taxpayers and property owners include Navigator CO₂ Ventures, Archer Daniels Midland, and Wolf Carbon Solutions.

Naturally, pipeline opponents across the country look to the Mount Rushmore State as their model. “Will North Dakota Follow South Dakota’s Lead on Eminent Domain Reform?” asks Dustin Gawrylow, managing director of the North Dakota Watchdog Network, on his Substack. Let’s hope every state will.

*Thank you to the John Birch Society for their in-depth research on this latest excuse to destroy property rights in America.