Iowans beware of ethanol ‘greenwashing’

Five years ago, the Dakota Access pipeline cut across 347 miles of Iowa farmland to transport over 20 million gallons of oil per day. Today, new pipelines are being planned.

One of them, Heartland Greenway (also known as Navigator), will transport not oil but liquefied carbon dioxide (CO2). The pipeline will carry 15 million tons of CO2 each year, captured mostly from ethanol plants around Iowa. The plan is to permanently sequester this CO2 underground in southern Illinois.

Is this a good idea? That depends on one’s perspective.

One perspective (the view of pipeline developers and ethanol producers) is that the CO2 handled by this pipeline would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. Removing this CO2 will benefit ethanol plants, permitting them to qualify for carbon tax credits, and allowing them to sell their product as a lower-carbon fuel, which opens up additional markets.

A second perspective (the farmers’ view) is that this pipeline will slash through 30 Iowa counties. Most farmers do not want their land torn open and their soil and tiling disturbed to allow corporations to gain financial advantages. And they especially do not want to be told that they have no choice in the matter. Farmers recount all kinds of problems they have had with past pipelines, including damaged and improperly repaired tiling, soil compaction and reduced yields.

A third perspective (the view of those concerned about the climate) is that the pipeline’s ultimate purpose is to help ethanol plants to thrive. Ethanol is a gasoline additive, completely bound up with fossil fuels, and so the pipeline would effectively extend our use of these fuels. Transportation is the highest single driver of climate change. Far, far more CO2 will be released by vehicles using ethanol-added fuel than will be recovered by this pipeline.

Our tax dollars should not be used to subsidize an industry rooted in the past, but should instead be invested in forward-looking projects that support a rapid transition to a sustainable, carbon-free energy future (including electric vehicles and their supporting infrastructure) — a transition that is our only hope to avert the worst threats of the climate crisis.

We have to be on the alert for “greenwashing” stories, where industries that are allied with activities that damage the environment tell stories that make it seem like they are trusted friends of the Earth. Heartland Greenway and the ethanol industry tout this pipeline as an environmental win because it will remove some CO2 — even though the net effect of the project will be to subsidize and strengthen an industry that is, in its alliance with gasoline and industrial agriculture, a major driver of climate change.

Where does that leave us? When faced with competing perspectives like these, it’s up to us to pay attention to the details, and unravel the stories that don’t hold up. It’s critical that we support policies that will protect not only Iowa’s future but ultimately the future of our entire planet.

Far too much is at stake to accept “business as usual” with ethanol.

Thom Krystofiak is a founder of Climate Action Iowa. He is writer and software engineer living in Fairfield.