A planned carbon capture pipeline that would be the largest of its kind faces opposition from communities in every state the 2,000-mile pipeline and its accompanying facilities would extend into. Residents in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota are pushing back against the $4.5 billion project proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions, which would transport liquified, pressurized carbon dioxide from 32 ethanol producers from a series of capture facilities to a carbon sequestration storage site in North Dakota in a process known as carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).
The project has been in the works since 2021, but only recently gained national attention, with NBC News publishing on Tuesday a report detailing partnerships between the farming community and Indigenous tribes in standing against the pipeline. Speaking with the outlet, South Dakota farmer Ed Fischbach explained that “[farmers are] realizing that maybe, maybe the Native Americans weren’t all wrong… It’s an issue of protecting the environment, protecting our land, and protecting your own rights.”
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The fact that CCS is so wildly unpalatable that op-ed after article after letter to the editor has been written against Summit Carbon Solutions is telling. Carbon capture is ineffective, known to fossil fuel giants to be unproven despite outright lies from companies like Exxon, and—in the case of the Denbury pipeline in Mississippi—outright life-threatening to communities.
It really shouldn’t be novel for communities impacted by large-scale projects from polluters to push back against them together, nor should white farmers finally listening to Indigenous communities be counted as some type of “unlikely” pairing. A coalition of Iowa farmers legally challenged the Dakota Access Pipeline. Farmers have opposed other large-scale pipeline projects like the Keystone XL as well.
Indigenous communities have consistently taken the lead in protecting their ancestral lands from infrastructure that is quite literally destroying the planet. Centering their voices as well as other frontline communities is key, regardless of their makeup. So consistently have environmental groups and tribes fought against projects like these that they’ve once again come together to take lessons in successfully beating pipeline projects in the past to help put an end to Summit Carbon Solutions’ CCS ambitions.
Research continues to mount on the climate impact of ethanol and other alternative fuels and the need for more environmentally-friendly solutions. Plus, as NPR notes, electric vehicles could essentially make the need for alternatives to alternative fuels obsolete. As with using CCS to delay the inevitable need to put an end to oil and gas production, propping up ethanol is extremely short-sighted. That more people are waking up to this fact and willing to fight back is ultimately a good thing and could signal a much-needed shift in how the U.S. approaches proposed pollution-heavy projects.
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