Presidential candidate Doug Burgum defends eminent domain to build carbon capture pipelines

NEWTON, Iowa — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said Sunday he wants to see carbon capture pipeline projects succeed to boost the value of Midwest corn and soybeans — and help revitalize struggling rural towns.

“The whole point of CO2” capture pipelines “is that it's going to raise the value of corn for every farmer in America,” the Republican presidential candidate said in Newton.

It’s a hot-button issue in Iowa, where three companies have proposed building pipelines that will be used to capture carbon dioxide at ethanol and other industrial ag plants, liquefy it under pressure, and transport it to other states, where it will be sequestered deep underground.

Summit Carbon Solutions proposes sequestering carbon in North Dakota, where Burgum says the state permitted underground storage space for 100 million tons of carbon dioxide storage this year.

Carbon capture advocates say the projects are critical to ethanol's future viability as California and other states push for low-carbon fuel to cut the greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.

Critics say the companies are trying to cash in on lucrative federal tax credits for sequestration and low-carbon fuel.

“People ask 'what's the beneficial good?' The beneficial bit is that there are customers willing to pay for things like sustainable aviation fuel, and this is going to raise the income for every farmer in the Midwest,” said Burgum, who along with his wife, Kathryn, had lunch with about a dozen Jasper County Republicans.

More: GOP candidate Doug Burgum says Biden's to blame for controversial Texas border barriers

Two of the pipeline developers in Iowa have asked regulators to grant them eminent domain powers, enabling them to force unwilling landowners to sell the companies access to their property for the projects. It's prompted widespread opposition and unsuccessful legislative efforts to curb its use.

Burgum said eminent domain is necessary to get big projects built. “We wouldn't have an interstate highway system. We wouldn't have the transcontinental railroads. We wouldn't have just about anything in this country.

“It’s very difficult to get 100% of people to agree,” he said. “The important thing is that they have an opportunity in that process to be heard and be fairly compensated.”

Burgum added that Summit has made hundreds of changes to its route in North Dakota.

“If people don't want to get a big check from a pipeline company, they have an opportunity to let their neighbor get the big check,” he said.

Burgum, touting his support for domestic energy, slammed President Joe Biden’s push toward electric vehicles, saying he’s trying to “kill liquid fuels industry,” whether it's “attacking biofuels” or attacking “carbon-based oil and gas.”

More: Builders vow CO2 pipelines will be safe. Worried Iowans point to a Mississippi rupture.

Biden wants half of all new cars and trucks sold by 2030 to be electric, which is key to achieving his ambitious goals of slashing U.S. emissions in half by 2030 and achieving a carbon-free economy by 2050.

Burgum said the Biden administration’s idea of “helping the environment” is mining rare earth materials in China for batteries that are manufactured in factories, powered by coal and using “1980s technology” before shipping them to the U.S.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, has pushed back on criticism of Biden's support for ethanol and biodiesel, saying no other administration has set higher production targets under a federal mandate, called the Renewable Fuel Standard. It outlines how much biofuel must be blended into the nation's fuel supply annually.

Iowa is the nation's largest producer of ethanol, where about half the annual corn crop is used to make the renewable fuel. The state also is the biggest U.S. grower of corn and second-largest soybean producer.

“In the Burgum administration, we're gonna sell energy to our friends and allies, and stop buying it from our adversaries. Because if you cared about the environment, if you cared about our economy, that's the right answer,” he said.

Burgum told reporters he's doing nothing to prepare for the August GOP debate in Milwaukee, adding that all he has to do is show up and be himself.

"People are looking for common sense solutions. They're looking for small-town values," he said.

Donnelle Eller covers agriculture, the environment and energy for the Register. Reach her at deller@registermedia.com or 515-284-8457. 

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Doug Burgum says carbon capture pipelines will help Midwest farmers