Lawmakers float court challenge to CO2 pipelines

DES MOINES — Iowa Republican lawmakers seemed resigned Wednesday to the likelihood that restrictions on the eminent domain authority of carbon capture pipeline companies won’t become law any time soon, while GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy accused the state's leaders of inaction on the issue.

In a pair of rallies focused on carbon capture pipelines, the state legislative session and presidential election campaigns merged to talk about the projects supporters say would boost ethanol profits and sequester greenhouse gases.

Iowa Rep. Steve Holt, R-Denison, announced he had switched his presidential endorsement from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to Ramaswamy. Holt said it was Ramaswamy's message and vision that led him to make the change.

"I think the world of Gov. DeSantis, I think the world of his family and his campaign," Holt said. "He's the second-best governor in the (country) behind Gov. (Kim) Reynolds. It is Vivek's message that resonates with me, and the way he says it."

Ramaswamy called the CO2 pipelines part of the "climate change agenda" and said there is no need to reduce emissions. He said allowing eminent domain that would let the developers force easements would set a dangerous precedent.

Lawmakers float court challenge

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Lawmakers who in the past supported restrictions on eminent domain authority for CO2 pipelines, conceding that a change of law was unlikely, offered a secondary plan: Challenge an approval for the use of eminent domain in hopes it reaches the U.S. Supreme Court and gets overturned.

If the Iowa Utilities Board approves a pending application from Summit Carbon Solutions to build a pipeline using eminent domain, Holt said the matter could be appealed to the state Supreme Court or U.S. Supreme Court.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided in a 5-4 decision in 2005 that projects that serve a "public purpose,” including economic development, could be eligible for eminent domain authority. That case, pipeline opponents say, was wrongly decided and should be overturned.

Ramaswamy also pledged he would support efforts to overturn that decision.

Summit, one of two companies looking to build CO2 pipelines in the state, has requested eminent domain authority from the utilities board to build a sprawling 2,000-mile pipeline across five states. Another company, Wolf Carbon Solutions, has not requested eminent domain authority for its project.

The Summit pipeline would capture CO2 from ethanol plants in Iowa and shuttle it to an underground reservoir in North Dakota. Ethanol proponents say it would allow them to sell to low-carbon markets and boost profits for Iowa farmers.

Iowa law dictates hazardous liquid pipelines can be granted eminent domain authority only if they “promote the public convenience and necessity.” Opponents say that, as projects managed and owned by private companies, CO2 pipelines do not meet that threshold.

Ramaswamy challenges GOP leadership

Ramaswamy targeted Republican leadership in Iowa and his fellow Republican presidential candidates for not coming out forcefully against the pipelines.

“We deserve to understand where our proposed leaders are on an issue that actually affects us,” he said. “...If those of us here understand it, if farmers from the northwest, the southeast understand this issue, why don’t your Republicans in this state, the people who work in this building, understand they should be here?”

Ramaswamy urged the pipeline opponents gathered at the Capitol to support him in Monday’s caucuses.

DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley have both said they oppose eminent domain being used for projects like the Summit pipeline. Former President Donald Trump told supporters at an event last year “that’s going to be taken care of,” but he has not expressly opposed the pipelines.

Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley, and many other House Republicans supported a law last year to restrict the eminent domain authority of carbon capture pipelines. The law did not get taken up in the Senate. Iowa Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver said in an earlier interview that his caucus was split on the issue.

Reynolds has supported the projects and their impact on the ethanol industry, and she has said she supports Iowa’s current eminent domain laws.