Statewide Iowa — The chair of Calhoun County Democrats is urging the state party to take a stand against land seizures for the carbon pipelines being proposed in Iowa.
Emma Schmit is a member of the Iowa Democratic Party’s State Central Committee.
This weekend, Schmit proposed that the Iowa Democratic Party’s governing board pass a resolution opposing development and construction of carbon pipelines, but it was tabled.
The Iowa Democratic Party’s 2018 platform supports carbon sequestration, but opposes eminent domain abuse. Schmit says there will be efforts this weekend at county conventions to try to ensure the Iowa Democratic Party’s 2022 Platform includes a plank opposing carbon pipelines, but Schmit says no one reads the platform and a statement now from the party’s governing board would be more effective.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe opposed construction of the Dakota Access pipeline. Schmit is an Iowa-based organizer for Food and Water Watch, an environmental group that recently hosted an anti-pipeline rally at the Capitol. Pipeline developers say it’s wrong to change state regulations in the middle of the project and say they have gained hundreds of voluntary easements from Iowa landowners.
