Vivek Ramaswamy targets carbon capture pipelines

DES MOINES — Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy took aim this week at the proposed construction of carbon capture pipelines in Iowa, criticizing Iowa Republican leaders who he said are supporting the projects against the wishes of Iowa voters.

Ramaswamy will hold an event Friday focused on the issue with the Free Soil Coalition, inviting supporters of the pipeline to attend and make their case for the projects.

“I think that we're best served when we have open dialogue and debate about important issues that affect our citizens, and so I welcome that, and hopefully we'll have some people who take me up on the offer to give people a respectful opportunity to make the case,” he said in an interview.

The Ohio biotech entrepreneur raised his opposition to the pipelines Tuesday at a campaign office opening, though he said he’d been opposing the projects since he began his presidential campaign.

Ramaswamy said the issue of eminent domain, the seizure of private land for public use, is driving him to spotlight the issue.

“The fact that it was now affecting people in their backyards through the use of eminent domain, I think, was something that alerted me early in this campaign to this being a problem,” he said.

Pipelines have been proposed to capture carbon dioxide at ethanol plants in Iowa and elsewhere and store it in reservoirs underground, which would lower the fuel's carbon intensity and allow it to be sold in low-carbon markets like California.

Proposed pipelines would stretch across hundreds of miles of Iowa land, requiring the companies to obtain voluntary easements or employ eminent domain to build on private land.

Republicans split on issue

Ramaswamy also suggested Iowa Republican leaders are backing the projects despite opposition from voters. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he said presidential candidates tend to avoid the topic “because it makes the likes of (Gov. Kim Reynolds) look horrible for supporting it.”

“The people of the state deserve to hear from their leadership where they stand on this issue, and I think it’s shameful that they’re hiding from it,” he said.

A representative for Reynolds declined to comment.

Iowa’s Republican leaders have been split on the issue of eminent domain for the projects. Iowa House leaders proposed and passed a bill in this year’s legislative session that would have restricted the use of eminent domain for the projects, but the Senate did not consider the bill.

Reynolds has been publicly supportive of the projects and their potential to bolster Iowa’s ethanol industry, saying she supports the current laws dictating the regulatory process.

Summit Carbon Solutions and Wolf Carbon Solutions have both proposed carbon capture pipelines that cover Iowa land. A third proposed project by Navigator CO2 Ventures was scrapped last month as the company cited the "unpredictable nature" of the regulatory process.

Summit, which has asked for eminent domain authority, is awaiting a decision from the Iowa Utilities Board over its application for the pipeline. Wolf has said it does not intend to use eminent domain to build its pipeline and recently asked to resubmit its application in Illinois.

What do other candidates say?

Other candidates have staked out different positions on the issue.

Former President Donald Trump, who as president signed legislation to support carbon capture technology and extend tax credits for the projects, told voters in Council Bluffs, “We’re working on that” in response to a question about the pipelines, according to NBC News.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, whose state would house Summit’s storage reservoir, has been a major supporter of the projects and said they could transform the agriculture economy for Iowa and other Midwestern states.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley have both expressed skepticism of the use of eminent domain for the pipelines.

Carbon capture and storage has been floated as a climate change solution to reduce carbon emissions, but some environmentalists argue the technology is an ineffective solution that props up fossil fuels.

Ramaswamy has acknowledged climate change is being caused by human activity but has been critical of efforts to combat rising temperatures, often referring to what he calls the “climate change agenda” as a “hoax."

Ethanol leader: Ramaswamy ‘running on fumes’

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Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Executive Director Monte Shaw accused Ramaswamy of hypocrisy, pointing out his criticism over President Joe Biden shutting down the Keystone XL pipeline, which used eminent domain to secure its route.

“Iowans are tired of seeing politicians bow down to petroleum companies while finding excuses to hamstring the future of agriculture,” Shaw said. “Unfortunately, these are the typical games we’ve come to expect from politicians running on fumes.”

Ramaswamy said he is not opposed to the ethanol industry and suggested ethanol manufacturers can use other technology to decarbonize without using eminent domain.

“I would say they’re shortchanging the ethanol industry by claiming that somehow the ethanol industry needs these carbon dioxide pipelines, when in fact, methanol conversion or other alternatives could even provide them the access to the same subsidies, but without encroaching on farmers’ land, without the use of eminent domain.”

Comments: cmccullough@qctimes.com