Iowa lawmakers should squish the Summit pipeline

Summit Carbon Solutions’ pipeline plan has undergone a metamorphosis, sort of like that guy in the Kafka book who turns into a cockroach.

Cockroaches are hard to kill. And so is Summit’s 2,500-mile pipeline plan for carrying liquefied carbon dioxide from Iowa ethanol plants to underground storage in North Dakota.

Iowa utilities regulators gave Summit, led by generous Republican donor Bruce Rastetter and his politically connected pals, permission to use eminent domain authority to take private land easements along the pipeline route from unwilling landowners.

King Corn has no use for “rights.”

But Summit’s end-run around private property rights is unpopular, to put it mildly.

That goes double in the Iowa House, where a bipartisan majority approved a bill this past week prohibiting the use of eminent domain for carbon pipeline projects.

When Summit first announced its project, investors hoped to get billions in federal tax credits expanded by the Biden administration to encourage carbon sequestration as a tool to address climate change. Reducing the ethanol industry’s carbon footprint would help corn gas remain marketable in a low-carbon future, backers said. The ethanol industry still is making the case for ethanol as an “ultralow carbon fuel.”

But forget all that climate mumbo jumbo.

The Trump administration, which now hands out the credits, believes climate change is a massive hoax. Thanks to the Bulging Beastly Bill, enhanced credits would go to plans providing liquefied carbon for enhanced oil recovery. CO2 is pumped into wells to squeeze out every drop of oil. Black gold, Texas Tea, are in. Green is out.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Klimesh said this week oil recovery will fit nicely into President Donald Trump’s energy dominance policy.

Summit’s original Iowa permit came with strings. The company could not build in Iowa unless its permits in South Dakota and North Dakota were approved.

But in South Dakota, the cockroach was introduced to a large shoe. Summit’s permit applications were denied, state lawmakers approved a bill barring the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines and now is considering a constitutional amendment.

So, Summit is asking the Iowa Utilities Commission to drop those state permit requirements. And the company wants flexibility to change its route toward other sequestration sites. Where? Only Summit knows for sure.

Maybe the pipeline will cross Nebraska to Wyoming, an oil-producing state. Nebraska has no statewide permitting process, but Summit would have to get permission from each county it crosses. It’s already running into opposition.

Meanwhile a landowner lawsuit against the utilities commission has been tossed from District Court back to the commission due to Summit’s proposed changes, and just as the trial was about to begin. It’s a nifty way to stay out of a courtroom.

The Statehouse is another matter.

The Iowa House bill, HF 2104, passed 64-28.

“The precedent we will set if we allow private property to be seized for a private economic development project will reverberate for decades to come and could render property rights safeguards in our constitution meaningless for our children and our children’s children,” said Rep. Steve Holt, who is leading the House push against eminent domain.

Last year, a similar bill passed the House and made it to Gov. Kim Reynolds’ desk after rogue Republican senators pushed it to passage. But Reynolds vetoed the bill. She’s never met a large agricultural corporation she would not help make a bunch of money.

This year, the Senate has its own plan. Trouble is, it won’t stop pipeline companies from using eminent domain to carve out a route. A big omission.

“I want us to come to a consensus with the House, find a path forward, open up access to additional markets for Iowa farmers who are desperately looking for that relief right now, and put this behind us in a meaningful way that benefits all landowners,” Klimesh said.

“Consensus with the House.” That’s amusing, given how House Republicans reacted to Reynolds’ veto in 2025.

“I vow to work to kill every single piece of legislation that has her name on it. Her days of legislating, as far as I’m personally concerned, are over,” said Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, who is now the House majority leader and has killing power.

Kaufmann told Radio Iowa Reynolds is “Bruce Rastetter’s errand girl.” Fair.

Wow. Kaufmann, Holt and I agree on an issue. And since we’re now pals, I advise them to hold up every budget bill, every Senate priority and even a property tax cut until Senate leaders say uncle.

Will another veto tarnish our lame duck governor’s legacy? Screwing over ordinary people at the behest of her many Friends of Kim, or FOK, is her legacy. She never gives a FOK about anything they don’t support.

There is no way this carbon pipeline is a public benefit warranting the use of eminent domain authority. Lining rich guys’ pockets is not a good reason to take property rights from landowners.

If Summit can’t convince them to voluntarily join the route, it needs to cut bait and find some other snake oil to sell.

And for the love of God, how long do we have to keep propping up the ethanol industry? How many more times does our government need to save it from the economic reality that it can’t stand on its own? We’ve seen about 40 years of government intervention. Now the industry claims it can’t survive without carbon pipelines.

Ethanol is horrible for the environment. Overproduction of corn and the amount of fertilizer needed to grow it are making Iowa’s already remarkably dirty water worse. It’s washing away our soil and promoting an economic model that is hollowing out rural Iowa. And very few of our so-called political leaders are willing to say so, in either party.

Will the election change much? Maybe, or maybe not. Republican front-runner Randy Feenstra’s largest donor is Jeff Broin, founder and CEO of POET, a biofuels producer partnering with Summit. He gave Feenstra $250,000.

So, at this point, it’s up to lawmakers. Pass the House bill and grab a can of Raid. The Golden Dome of Wisdom is infested with ethanol swilling cockroaches.

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com