CO2 Pipelines hurt everyone in Iowa

The push for the CO2 pipelines is for ethanol plants to lower carbon emissions so they can get the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard incentive. On the LCFS website, the current rate is $1.86 per gallon, which is added on top of market price. A tanker holds 30,000 gallons and a train is typically 100 cars long. If it costs $1 million to ship 3 million gallons to California, the price is 33 cents per gallon, resulting in a $1.52 bonus per gallon.

Sounds great until you realize that is how much extra Iowa will pay to keep it for our use. Our gas prices will go up over a dollar for E85 because of this pipeline built by taxpayer money. The pipelines do not increase the capacity of the ethanol plants, only the value to out-of-state buyers. Our citizens will have to outbid the buying power of the state of California. That’s not a price we can afford.

Are pipelines good for ethanol? They're good for the investors. But for farmers? Trickle-down economics is a myth. Look at a $5 box of Wheaties. A farmer gets six cents out of $5. The athlete on the box gets 10.

I am opposed to the CO2 pipelines. I don't want to live in a state beholden to outside investors and profiteers. If ethanol wants LCFS incentives it is their choice. Let them invest in their own infrastructure. But don't use tax money to destroy our state economy.

Mark Joenks

Greenville