South Dakota Farm Bureau has new policy clarifying their stance on carbon pipelines and private property rights.
At the annual convention in mid-November, President Scott VanderWal says member delegates decided “if a pipeline or proposed pipeline has two-thirds of landowners along the line who have voluntarily signed easements, the company should be able to use eminent domain on the rest.”
VanderWal says in the last year, Farm Bureau members decided land for carbon pipeline projects was too easy to attain via eminent domain and the new policy should address the concern.
Summit Carbon Solutions is working on a carbon pipeline project that would span multiple states and move through eastern South Dakota to transport carbon from ethanol plants to underground storage in North Dakota. If the project is completed, it could lower carbon emissions for ethanol and help grow a top market for U.S. corn. But proposed pipeline projects have landowners in multiple states citing eminent domain concerns.