Des Moines, Iowa — A key Senator says the Iowa House has approved a meaningless plan that would prevent carbon pipeline developers from applying for government condemnation of land along pipeline routes before February 1st.
Senator Dennis Guth, a Republican from Klemme, says the Iowa Utilities Board chair told him there’s absolutely no way the eminent domain process would be even close to being completed by February 1st.
Guth is chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees the Iowa Utilities Board budget. Guth says he’s working with Senate leaders and the Utilities Board on a bill that would restrict what eminent domain may be used for.
But Guth says the bill is still in development and won’t be ready until 2023. This debate over construction of carbon pipelines cuts close to home for Guth.
Guth says there are a whole lot of things not to like about the prospect of having developers seek eminent domain authority from the Iowa Utility Board, to acquire land from property owners who don’t want the pipelines on their ground.
Ethanol producers and some corn growers say the pipelines would reduce the carbon load from ethanol plants and, ultimately, benefit farmers by extending the life of the ethanol industry. Guth suggests the primary beneficiaries of carbon pipelines would be the private developers.
Pipeline developers propose shipping the carbon to underground storage in North Dakota or southern Illinois.
