Reynolds saved a pipeline for her people

Gov. Kim Reynolds said something funny the other day.

It was in the message she sent out after vetoing hard-won legislation seeking to place limits on the use of eminent domain authority to take land for hazardous liquid pipelines. That includes the 2,500-mile liquid CO2 pipeline planned by Summit Carbon Solutions.

"We can do better. And I'm committed to working with the Legislature to strengthen landowner protections, modernize permitting and respect private property,” the governor said in her veto message.

Now that is comedy gold.

It’s true, the governor could do better. In the four-year struggle over carbon pipelines, the governor has presented no ideas to strengthen landowner rights. She has remained comfortably on the sidelines. Reynolds hasn’t said a word in public explaining her stand on the projects. She hasn’t lifted a finger to protect landowners.

See? Hilarious.

There was never any doubt she supported the Summit pipeline. But she had the Iowa Senate do her dirty work blocking past legislation. A bill finally broke through the Senate and made it to her desk. She would have to kill the bill herself.

Her veto is about as surprising as finding nitrates in an Iowa river. After all, the people behind the Summit Carbon project are her people. Lame duck or not, Reynolds was never going to harm her people, or their bank accounts.

There’s Bruce Rastetter, a generous Republican donor and head of the Summit agricultural empire. There’s her mentor, former Gov. Terry Branstad, who put her in the governor’s office, and is now Summit’s senior policy adviser. Summit Carbon’s VP of government affairs is Jake Ketzner, her former chief of staff.

Reynolds was never going to stand between her people and billions of federal tax credits that would fund the Summit project. She was never going to cross the ethanol industry, which warned that without carbon sequestration improving the environmental profile of corn gas, the industry would die on the vine.

She happily hands out huge tax cuts mostly benefiting wealthy taxpayers. She has kept Iowa’s water dirty, which pleases the Farm Bureau and companies making lots of money off planting corn, corn and more corn. She made sure her people can get publicly funded scholarships to send their kids to private schools.

So, a veto would fly in the face of everything she’s done to help hog barons, King Corn and fat cats of all stripes achieve the Freedom to Flourish. It’s a heartwarming story about a governor who robbed the poor to give to the rich.

And after four years of debate and the pleas of outraged landowners, the governor has put the whole process back at square one.

Most Iowans support restricting eminent domain for private gain. Lawmakers who voted against the bill may face a rougher electoral road. But it’s an open question whether this issue retains its heat all the way to primaries and Election Day.

The Summit pipeline may never happen. The company needs permission from South Dakota, but their plan has been turned down twice. President Donald Trump may turn off the carbon tax credits the project depends on.

From a legislative standpoint, none of the players will change in 2026. It’s hard to see how the outcome won’t be the same.

That is unless Reynolds helps. She’s probably the one state politician who could bridge the divide between landowner protections and the ethanol empire.

But that reminds me of something funny. Stop me if you’ve heard it.

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